Deshundre Richee dreams of having a big house one day. A home where he can raise his two kids. A place where he can have a barbeque, play with his family in the yard and give them the best life possible.
But for Deshundre, a custodian at UCLA Health and a member of AFSCME Local 3299, that dream is a long way off.
For the past two years, he’s been living at the Los Angeles Mission, a homeless shelter in downtown L.A.
"I would never imagine me ending up being homeless and working for UCLA. It’s been rough."
Deshundre Richee Custodian at UCLA Health and a member of AFSCME Local 3299
Even though he works for a world-class, billion-dollar institution, he doesn’t earn enough to afford housing for himself. Yet his role – cleaning and sanitizing rooms for patients – is a crucial part of patient care.
“Without us, doctors wouldn’t be able to come in and treat the patients. It’s got to be cleaned properly. We work for the finest hospital, yet the employees are struggling,” says Deshundre. “It’s like we’re at the bottom and the hospital discards us.”
Housing has been front and center in recent strikes by service and patient care workers represented by Deshundre Richee’s union, AFSCME Local 3299.
They are demanding fair wages for the front-line workers who keep hospitals, higher education institutions and communities running. And they are spotlighting the hypocrisy of their employer, as it offers senior executives lavish housing benefits while doing nothing for workers like Deshundre.
And they are demanding answers to the question that Deshundre asks: “Where’s the shot for your workers?”
Being in a union is about more than wages or benefits. At its core, union membership is about dignity and belonging. It’s about having a voice on the job, being respected for the work you do, and knowing you’re part of something bigger than yourself.
That same sense of dignity and belonging is what’s at stake in the fight to be able to live where you work.
Public service work is rooted in place. For AFSCME members like Deshundre, the work they do is more than a job, it’s a chance to be part of the fabric of their community. These workers care for patients in local hospitals, maintain public buildings, keep our streets safe, and make sure essential services are there when people need them most.
That’s what makes the housing crisis facing public service workers so deeply unfair.
AFSCME members keep states, cities, and neighborhoods running, but some can’t afford to live anywhere near where they work. The message that sends is clear: your labor is essential, but your presence isn’t.
The fight for affordable housing isn’t just about long commutes or tight household budgets. Being able to live where you work means being able to put down roots, show up for your neighbors, and be a full participant in community life. When workers are pushed farther and farther away, that sense of belonging is stripped away and replaced with instability, exhaustion and isolation.
And it’s not only workers who pay the price. Communities suffer too. Long commutes fuel burnout and turnover. Public services become harder to staff. The people communities rely on most are stretched thinner and pushed further out.
Dignity at work should come with dignity in life.
And serving a community should come with the ability to belong to it.
5,700 UNAC/UHCP nurses who work for Sharp Healthcare in the San Diego area, along with health care professionals from Sharp Chula Vista, held a three-day strike for fair wages. PHOTO: UNAC/UHCP
The housing crisis facing public service workers isn’t inevitable. It’s the result of political and economic choices and it’s something workers can organize to change.
Across the country, AFSCME members are stepping up to demand more:
UNAC/UHCP nurses at Sharp HealthCare in the San Diego area have raised similar alarms, highlighting what it means to work full time in one of the most expensive regions in the country.
These fights are about making clear that housing affordability isn’t a personal problem that workers should be left to solve on their own — it’s a structural issue that demands collective solutions.
That’s the union difference: a way to fight back together. A way to demand solutions that match the scale of the problem. And a way to turn individual struggle into collective power.
Across the country, housing costs have soared while wages — especially for low-wage workers — have fallen further behind.
What does it cost to live in the city where you work?
Can you afford housing? Child care? Food? Does that math add up for you?
Use this calculator to find out what housing and other costs run in your area.
If you’re one of the millions of workers who can’t keep up with rising costs, one of best ways to speak out is through your union – AFSCME.