You'll likely recall the Chronicle story from about six weeks back concerning Etoria Cheeks, a teacher who had recently moved to San Francisco from Georgia to take a job with the SF Unified School District, only to find herself homeless and staying in hostels and a shelter after being evicted from a house in Daly City where she was renting a room. After suffering that ordeal, despite her $65,000/year salary teaching math and coaching badminton at the Academy-San Francisco at McAteer, Cheeks said, "San Francisco isn’t geared for me; it’s not built for someone like me," and she had given her notice to the SFUSD with plans to possibly return home to Georgia. Her story has a slightly better ending now, however, as the school year has just come to a close.

Cheeks's tale, and the publicity it brought to the plight of teachers whose salaries in SF are not keeping up with those in other cities, let alone the cost of living here, may have directly prompted Mayor Ed Lee to announce, a week later, that he intends to invest $44 million to construct 130 to 150 units of dedicated teacher housing on a site in the Sunset District.

While Cheeks had a temporary place to stay with a retired teacher in West Portal, she said she wanted a more permanent home, and as the Chronicle now reports, that wish came true in recent weeks. The story prompted local artist and landlord Spike Kahn to offer Cheeks an affordable one-bedroom apartment in her building on Grove Street. Kahn tells the paper, "I bemoan the fact that the middle class has all but disappeared out of San Francisco. I wanted to walk the walk and not just talk the talk."

Though Cheeks has technically already resigned, she says she's trying to get reinstated at her job at McAteer.

Now if there were only more landlords willing to offer such deals to keep teachers in the city where they work.

Previously: Math Teacher At SF Public School Ends Up Homeless, Says 'San Francisco Isn't Geared For Me'