PolicyLink is pleased to join with our grassroots partners and housing advocates to release the Housing Justice Narrative Toolkit.

This labor of love is guided by the brilliance of 56 grassroots organizers and housing advocates who came together during 2022 to define and build a housing justice narrative. We recognize that in this moment, we have both the resources and the will to create a future in which every person has all their basic needs met.

Time and time again, research shows that the majority of Americans believe that housing is a basic need for people to thrive. Americans want action to address existing inequities in housing. We want to look out our windows and see our neighbors, and not wonder if they are renters or homeowners.

The Housing Justice Narrative Toolkit offers a scaffolding for us to stay centered in the future we are reimagining. This toolkit grounds the core truth of housing justice, supporting our ability to speak to a base of individuals most aligned with housing justice in authentic, resonant ways. It guards against the distraction of the opposition by offering opportunities to avoid the pitfalls of repeating the same stories we have been told or continue to tell, that haven’t moved us toward housing for all.

The toolkit is rooted in the understanding that we already know the policy solutions, we just need a different way to intensify the narratives that support these policies — a clear, compelling housing justice narrative is that way. The toolkit provides a scaffolding for embedding a housing justice narrative that can create a new tipping point in public consciousness and create the conditions necessary to advance housing justice and broaden our base. The Housing Justice Narrative Toolkit is designed to support your work, from narrative strategy guidance to grab-and-go messages and graphics, so please use and share widely. 

The Housing Justice Narrative Project is a multi-year collaboration between PolicyLink, Race Forward, and Community Change supported by the Funders for Housing and Opportunity. Learn more about this initiative.