Collaboration for Housing Justice

Housing is a basic human need that affects life outcomes from health and education to economic well-being. When people have a safe and secure place to live, they can focus on going to school, getting and keeping a job, caring for their family, and connecting with their community.

Yet our housing system is broken. Deeply rooted systems of racial bias, discrimination, and segregation greatly limit the housing options and life opportunities of millions of Black people, Indigenous people, and other people of color. We can only hope to fix this if we work collaboratively across sectors and spheres of influence. It will take all of us to dismantle racial inequities, repair harms, and restructure systems to ensure equitable housing and life outcomes for all people.

This series, sponsored by Funders for Housing and Opportunity, shares ideas, observations, and lessons from our housing justice efforts, including how and why the work will only move forward if it is systemic, anti-racist, and bridges sectors. The series looks at key elements for achieving housing justice through systems-level change including policy, advocacy, and organizing; narrative change; and elevating what works. The articles also offer observations about institutional racism and housing; working through a funder collaborative structure and process; and the intersections between housing justice and homelessness, health, and climate justice.

We hope that readers will come away from this series with a deeper understanding of how housing justice is synonymous with racial justice and an invigorated sense of how they, no matter what their field of focus, can collaborate to support housing and opportunity.

^{(Series illustrations by Raffi Marhaba, The Dream Creative)}