Changing the Narrative on Housing in Minnesota: A Collaborative Project

MHP advocates for safe, stable, and healthy homes for all in partnership with advocates and housers across our state. We convene housing champions, share data through our research, inform lawmakers, and offer solutions.  To advance our vision of a home for everyone, we need our community to be committed and ready and equipped to take action; establishing this commitment begins with how we talk about housing

MHP is launching a narrative change project because how we talk about housing really matters―it shapes the actions we take as a community! We want all Minnesota residents to be part of affordable housing solutions, and we need your help. 

Powerpoint Presentation on Narrative Change

MHP and the Housing Narrative Lab, a national communications and research hub, are undertaking a narrative change project to reframe how Minnesotans talk about housing. It will start with deep research exploring our underlying values and beliefs, and the words our community currently uses to speak about affordable housing. We will take special effort to understand a range of perspectives, from those with lived experience, to business owners, to rural and urban, to Black, Brown and Indigenous community members, and more. Understanding how our community perceives the state of housing will inform how we best change that narrative to illuminate the realities faced by our neighbors who are struggling to find a place to call home. 

Armed with that data, we will set out to craft a new supporting narrative incorporating the values and vocabulary that speak directly to Minnesotans. The narrative will inform and persuade lawmakers, nonprofits and businesses, the media, and everyday neighbors about the importance of everyone having a place to call home.

After the research and analysis is complete, we will share these learnings throughout the state, providing communications tools and educational workshops on how we can all harness our power in setting the narrative to create meaningful change! 

The Housing Narrative Lab lifts the stories of people facing homelessness and housing insecurity and the systems that keep them from finding and keeping a home through providing narrative research, strategic communications and communications support, and education and training. Learn more about the Housing Narrative Lab at www.housingnarrativelab.org

For reference:

Front Porch Investments webpage on narrative change: https://frontporchinvestments.org/get-involved/how-to-help.html