Over the last several years, I spent a lot of time on school campuses, specifically inside classrooms of all ages, sizes and quality in my former role as as builder of classroom buildings, where much of our work focused on replacing old, outdated portable classrooms. We often asked ourselves: how do we design a building that democratizes great classrooms for all students? Or in other words, how do we ensure all kids have access to the learning environments they deserve - ones with fresh air, natural daylight, and great acoustics?
I often think of the work we do at Landed in this same vein. At Landed, we strive to democratize homeownership for the educators that uphold our communities so they can stay and continue to provide our kids with the highest quality education.
So, it was only fitting that I had the honor of announcing our partnership with the East Side Alliance, a coalition of eight San Jose school districts, in front of one of these very buildings at Cedar Grove Elementary School.
This partnership marks an important milestone for our company in that we are bringing Landed to our single biggest community to date in what the San Francisco Chronicle recently dubbed “this year’s most insane housing market.”
Housing has become one of the biggest challenges facing families in San Jose. And for families who are ready to put roots down in their community and buy a home, saving fast enough for a down payment is often the single biggest barrier to achieving this dream. This is the problem that Landed helps solve with this recent launch.
Landed's down payment program is now available to educators employed by all eight districts in the East Side Alliance, including all associated alternative schools and charter schools: East Side Union High School District, Alum Rock School District, Berryessa School District, Evergreen School District, Franklin-McKinley School District, Mt. Pleasant School District, Oak Grove School District and Orchard School District.
Interested homebuyers can apply for Landed’s program immediately on our website.
Since our launch in January, we've been working with dozens of ESA educators to help put homeownership with reach. Finally, a big thank you to all the superintendents, community leaders, and educators who helped make this happen, especially to Kathy Gomez and Charles Crosby from Evergreen School District and Manny Barbara from the Silicon Valley Education Foundation.
Below, I’ve shared a few articles and a brief video from our announcement in January:
San Jose Mercury News: New Program Helps San Jose Teachers Who Can’t Afford Homes
Silicon Valley Business Journal: Zuckerberg-Backed Startup Gives San Jose School Teachers a New Way to Buy a Home
