Our Work
Using legal advocacy, impact litigation, policy analysis, research, and community education HJC works to encourage the production of affordable housing, the preservation of affordable housing and the protection of the right of people who need affordable places to call home.
PRODUCTION: Supporting the development of deeply affordable housing
Safe, stable, affordable housing is out of reach for hundreds of thousands of households in Minnesota and millions across the country. Dismantling barriers to the creation of affordable places for people to call home is central to our work. Through education, litigation, and negotiation, we unlock the potential of federal and state resources, and counteract the forces of NIMBY to ensure that we are creating housing opportunities for low income families throughout Minnesota and across nationwide.
We do this by:
- researching barriers to creating more deeply affordable homes
- fighting for deeply affordable housing through policy
- advocating to increase investment in the housing we need to most
- legal advocacy to push for fair housing policy
PRESERVATION: Fighting to save affordable housing for the people who need it
Communities across the country are facing an acute shortage of affordable places to call home. Minnesota cannot afford to lose any affordable housing and so HJC has led the charge for 20 years to preserve every unit of subsidized affordable housing that we can. We also work to develop legal and financial strategies and policies to save unsubsidized affordable housing opportunities. Our work has saved over 5000 affordable places to call home and resulted in changes to federal, state, and local laws and regulations.
We do this by working to preserve:
- federally subsidized affordable housing
- unsubsidized affordable housing
- manufactured home communities
- policy advocacy on the state, local and national level
PROTECTION: Asserting the rights of tenants and breaking down barriers to access
Housing Justice is about the rights of people to have safe, stable, affordable places to call home in communities of all types. Where barriers exist that prevent people from accessing affordable housing, HJC works with our partners to break down barriers through legal advocacy and policy advocacy.
We do this by:
- pursuing anti-displacement policies
- engaging in fair housing impact litigation
- researching the barrier to access and how to eliminate them
- challenging illegal rent increases and other violations of federal programs