It was the second day Miller had helped out in Miranda\u2019s media studies classroom and, unlike the previous day, she repeatedly checked her phone and looked worried. After class, Miller waited for the students to file out before asking what was wrong. Miranda confided in her that two students, siblings Robert and Saundra Buyard, were about to become homeless. After stringing together nights in their car and on the floor of an aunt\u2019s apartment, they were running out of options. Unfortunately, they weren\u2019t her first students in this situation: According to news reports<\/a>, around 900 students in the Oakland Unified School District are homeless.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Miller had planned to give students pointers on their websites and LinkedIn profiles, but she couldn\u2019t get past the monumental challenge these two students were facing. \u201cI just didn\u2019t know what to do,\u201d says Miller, who lives in Oakland. \u201cIt was still on my heart.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n She decided to start a GoFundMe<\/a>\u2014at the very least, she thought, a couple thousand dollars could buy some food and new clothing to ease the burden. But when she hit launch on the campaign on Dec. 13, she had no idea just what it would amount to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n WeWork members and employees were quick to help with donations and publicity for the fundraiser, she says, particularly We of Color<\/a>, the group for WeWork employees of color that Miller leads in Northern California. \u201cWhen we say that we\u2019re community-minded, we prove it, and that should remain at the core of who we are,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n It wasn\u2019t long before the donations and publicity caught the eye of local news.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019m trying to stay positive, [but] sometimes it gets to me and I just kind of break down a little bit,\u201d said Robert Buyard, now a sophomore, on the news segment<\/a> that aired four days later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cFrom going from friend\u2019s houses to motels to cars, that\u2019s the worst feeling any mother wants to put on their kid,\u201d their mother, Margie Rollerson, said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Through it all, both students have stayed on the honor roll and are planning to perform in the school\u2019s upcoming musical.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt was so wonderful and brave of them to share their story,\u201d says Miller. \u201cThey spoke on behalf of so many kids in Oakland who are going through the same thing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Miller wasn\u2019t the only one who thought so: Donations started pouring in as soon as the news report ran. The following day, WeWork\u2019s executive chair Marcelo Claure announced<\/a> that he would match all donations over the next 24 hours. With his match, the family received $39,661 in donations over the holidays.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The money meant that they could afford the cost of first and last month\u2019s rent on a new apartment, and for the first time in a long time, they know where they\u2019re going to sleep at night. They\u2019ve even shared some of the funds with another area family facing the same problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"\/ideas\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2020\/01\/44079238_1576252444326967_r_v1-1.jpg\")
Jasmene Miranda (second from left) with WeWork community team members (from left) Grace Nelson, Lacey Vaughan, Christa Bene, and Ugo Mbawuike.\u00a0Photograph courtesy of Isis Miller<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n