About Us
Founded in 1999 as the Housing Preservation Project, Housing Justice Center (HJC) is a nonprofit public interest advocacy and legal organization whose primary mission is to preserve and expand affordable housing for low-income individuals and families.
HJC attorneys work with tenant and advocacy organizations, public and private housing funders, owners, developers, and policy makers in their efforts to protect and expand affordable housing. Based in Minnesota, HJC works nationwide.
Our Staff
Margaret Kaplan, President
Margaret Kaplan started her work in affordable housing as a VISTA doing community organizing with residents of manufactured home parks. She has almost 20 years of experience in the field of affordable housing and community development in the nonprofit, academic, and government sectors.
Margaret graduated cum laude from the University of Minnesota Law School in 2003 and began her legal career with the Housing Preservation Project. She subsequently worked for All Parks Alliance for Change and the Center for Urban and Regional Affairs at the University of Minnesota. After spending six years as the Community Development Director at Minnesota Housing, Margaret was a policy fellow with the North Star Policy Institute. Margaret brings a wealth of knowledge about local, state, and federal housing policy and programs as well as a robust background in the intersection of community organizing and the law.
Read more about Margaret in our leadership transition announcement.
Tim Thompson, Senior Staff Attorney
Timothy (Tim) Thompson is a 1975 graduate of the University of Minnesota Law School. He joined HJC in 2000 (known as “HPP” back then) and up until 2006 was also employed as the Litigation Director of Mid-Minnesota Legal Assistance, Inc. Tim has worked for various legal services programs for more than 25 years, specializing in tenants’ rights, government housing programs and class actions. He has been lead counsel or co-counsel on over 30 cases in Federal Court brought on behalf of low income residents. These suits have helped to secure rights to public assistance and federally subsidized housing programs for those most in need of these services. Tim’s cases have had far reaching impact on the rights and opportunities of the poor and communities of color.
Jack Cann, Senior Staff Attorney
John (Jack) Cann graduated from Carleton College in 1964 and did three years of graduate work at Stanford University. In 1967, Jack began to work full time on a variety of housing related activities, many of them litigation oriented. This provided him with a unique breadth and depth of experience relevant to housing litigation, including tenants’ rights organizing, advocacy, lobbying, and real estate development and finance. He graduated magna cum laude from William Mitchell College of Law in 1986. Jack brings a great deal of knowledge and experience to the HJC staff. He has worked extensively with Section 236, Section 8, Low Income Housing Tax Credits, and Community Development Block Grants. His knowledge of financing tools and compliance requirements gives HJC an advantage in both negotiations and litigation. He has also extensively litigated preservation cases on both the district and appellate level, both in Minnesota and across the country.
Our Board
Richard Kahn (Board Chairperson), currently President of National Affordable Housing Advisors, is a former affordable housing developer, former board member of Jewish Community Action, and a founding member of the HJC Board of Directors. He now works on acquisition and financing of existing affordable rental housing on behalf of non-profits.
David Anderson (Board Secretary) is Executive Director of All Parks Alliance for Change (APAC), a state-wide advocacy group for residents of Minnesota’s manufactured home parks. APAC and HJC have worked closely together to develop strategies to keep parks open in recognition of their value as an affordable housing resource.
Michael Bodaken is President of the National Housing Trust, the only national nonprofit organization engaged in housing preservation through a combination of real estate development, lending, and public policy endeavors. Among other activities, Mr. Bodaken leads the National Preservation Working Group, a coalition of groups (including HJC) advocating for stronger preservation policies on the federal level.
Warren Hanson is President of the Greater Minnesota Housing Fund (GMHF), an intermediary funding organization providing financial and technical assistance to promote affordable housing in Greater Minnesota communities. Mr. Hanson is a founding board member of HJC and GMHF is one of HJC’s founding organizations.
Howard Goldman is the former Minnesota State Director of the U.S. Humane Society, and served as the Multifamily Hub Director for HUD. His other experience includes: Vice Chair of Little Earth Board of Directors; Real estate Committee of Beacon Interfaith, and Temple of Aaron Housing subcommittee (social action committee).
Eric Hauge is the Executive Director of HOME Line, an organization providing free legal, organizing, educational, and advocacy services so that tenants throughout Minnesota can solve their own rental housing problems.
Paris Yarborough is a 2019 graduate of the University of St. Thomas Law School where she was a Page Scholar. She is a former student intern with Housing Justice Center.
Our Funders & Supporters
HJC represents clients and supports the advocacy efforts of community based organizations free of charge. The mission-driven work of the Housing Justice Center is supported by generous contributions from our funder partners.
- LSAC
- The Bush Foundation
- Greater Minnesota Housing Fund
- The MAHADH Fund of the HRK Foundation
- The Saint Paul Foundation
- Bigelow Foundation
- Mardag Foundation
In Kind Support: HJC depends on student interns and volunteers to support our work. Through the Minnesota Justice Foundation, The Center for Urban and Regional Affairs at the University of Minnesota, and the University of St. Thomas law clinic we have had the privilege of working with the next generation of lawyers and researchers. HJC also works with pro bono attorneys as co-counsel on our larger impact litigation efforts.