TRiO Plus is a project of the Oakland Fund for Public Innovation dedicated to equitable housing solutions for educators, ensuring they can live and thrive in the communities they serve. Through our Affordable Housing Marketplace, financial wellness programs and policy advocacy, we improve public education and create lasting change in housing affordability for educators.
Our Mission
TRiO Plus advances educational equity by improving housing affordability for public school educators.
“Without TRiO, I would be living in a shared bedroom with little space to focus on my studies and lesson planning. Thanks to TRiO, I can continue being Mr. O to my students.”
- Gustavo Ontiveros, OUSD Teacher Resident
Our Vision
Our vision is that ultimately every educator has access to housing they can afford, so that our kids stop paying the price for our broken housing system
When educators can afford to live where they work, students succeed. Research shows that students perform better when educators reflect their diversity and share their life experiences. By reducing housing costs, TRiO Plus is tackling a key barrier to recruiting and retaining Black, Latine, and other educators of color. This holistic, equity-driven approach to uplifting educators and students drives positive change that resonates far beyond the classroom walls, transforming student outcomes and fostering a more inclusive, thriving future for our diverse communities.
“The teachers who have impacted me the most have been teachers of color, because their insights and advice are personalized to my experience.”
- Nyah Johnson, OUSD 12th Grader
Our History
TRiO Plus Started with Teachers Rooted in Oakland (TRiO).
TRiO launched in 2020 as an initiative of the Oakland Mayor’s office working in partnership with Oakland Unified School District (OUSD), housing providers, donors, Community Development Finance, and Devine & Gong, Inc. The concept was simple: overcome the Bay Area’s high cost of living via monthly housing stipends to recruit and retain Oakland teachers, particularly new and early-career teachers of color in hard-to-staff areas like STEM and Special Education.
The impact was clear: over the course of just four years, TRiO supported more than 100 Oakland aspiring and new teachers. It helped grow the district’s Teacher Residency program by 212% and increased the number of teacher residents of color by an astounding 360%.
However, this early success only underscored the need for deeper and more sustainable solutions, within and beyond Oakland. We needed a way to secure affordable housing for all educators—especially Black, Latine, and other teachers of color who often face systemic financial inequities and lack of generational wealth, the burden was even greater—so they could continue serving the communities they call home. In other words, we needed to scale.
That’s why we evolved TRiO into TRiO Plus, a project of the Oakland Fund for Public Innovation dedicated to equitable housing solutions for educators, ensuring they can live and thrive in the communities they serve.
TRiO Plus offers an online housing marketplace where participating local housing providers can list units with discounts and benefits just for educators. By discounting and listing through TRiO Plus, housing providers can reduce vacancies, sign great long-term tenants, and support their city.
Today, TRiO Plus has facilitated over 189 leases for 138 unique educators. Leases boast strong renewal rates and help our educators spend an average of 29.7% of their income on rent.