MPUSD and Motel 6 collaborate in a short-term emergency housing program.

It's a first-of-its-kind program in California, and it will start in Marina and Monterey: a collaboration between a school district and a motel to house unhoused students.

On Tuesday, April 26, the board of the Monterey Peninsula Unified School District approved the short-term emergency program for unhoused students. The district entered into an agreement with two Motel 6 locations—one in Marina and one on North Fremont Street in Monterey. 

MPUSD will get a corporate discount (10-percent off) for rooms utilized by students who need short-term housing, and will be billed up to $20,000 by the motels, through June 30. The funds for the program come from the California Department of Education.

Families can stay for up to three nights (or longer, if MPUSD has funds to cover additional costs) while the family looks for longer-term housing.

“The ability to provide secure temporary housing for our students and their families who are facing economic hardships is significant,” MPUSD Superintendent PK Diffenbaugh said in an announcement. “This is a big step to ensuring that no family will have to struggle to find temporary housing if they fall on hard times."

Over 20 percent of MPUSD lack a stable, fixed home setting, according to data gathered under McKinney-Vento Act. Of MPUSD's student population of 9,600 students, nearly 2,100 students are experiencing homelessness, or a situation such as living in a garage or overcrowded shared housing setting. 

Besides offering aid for temporary housing, MPUSD has homeless liaisons at all its high schools from National Center for Youth Law. “MPUSD has emerged as a leader in providing unique partnerships to better serve students experiencing homelessness,” Michelle Francois, senior director of Compassionate Education Systems at the NCYL, said in a statement.

Students experience homeless for different reasons such as cost of living, eviction, a parent's job loss, immigration status and more. In order to qualify for the program, MPUSD students have to live with their family, contact a liaison, be eligible for McKinney-Vento services and not have other housing opportunities.