Effective communications and messaging are a key collective challenge in advancing Opportunity to Purchase campaigns. Faced with monied opposition in communities across the nation, advocates need more tools to combat disinformation about what some see as a complex policy solution while also advancing a compelling and powerful alternative narrative that – paired with strategic organizing – continues to pave the way toward just housing futures. This narrative toolkit is for tenant organizers, policy advocates, legal advocates, and coalition members advancing TOPA (tenant opportunity to purchase act) and COPA (community opportunity to purchase act) campaigns, otherwise known as Opportunity to Purchase (OPA) campaigns. It draws on successful experiences in employing a Race Class Narrative framework within the housing justice field. While there is no one right way to talk about these campaigns, Race Class Narrative is one proven and effective strategy. Anyone who is trying to win community ownership in their jurisdiction can use this tool to shape how they talk about the issue, whether the target audience is tenants who want to buy their building, community members who care about housing stability for their neighbors, or elected officials who will be voting on legislation.

Our homes are emotional sanctuaries. They define our identities and sense of belonging and provide a foundation for security and community. For too long, housing justice narratives have underrepresented this storytelling aspect, leaving critical stories untold and engagement opportunities unexplored. Without new storytelling techniques, the narratives that shape public understanding and support for housing justice will continue to overlook the experiences of Black, Brown, and Indigenous communities, further entrenching disparities in access to secure, affordable housing.

Through media platforms like YouTube, housing justice advocates have a wealth of opportunities to expand their storytelling practices. As an influential platform driven by personalities and emotional content, YouTube offers opportunities to broaden community engagement by meeting audiences where they are and using relatable storytelling techniques to drive participation in the movement.

PolicyLink, in collaboration with Harmony Labs and Erin Potts, cultural researcher, conducted an analysis to understand how different audiences consume housing-related content on YouTube and identify opportunities to better engage them on housing justice issues. The following five takeaways reflect our high-level guidance on uprooting harmful narratives using messaging, language, storytelling, and data. 

1. Center Stories of Personal Experiences With Housing Insecurity
2. Let the Emotion Flow,  Let Intellectualizing Go
3. Leverage Community-Oriented Holidays for Mobilization
4. Weave Housing Justice Themes into Genres Like Gaming, Crime, and Horror
5. Share Examples of Collective Action to Nurture Hope in a Brighter Future

Download the research brief

• Homes as Sanctuaries: Audience and Storytelling Insights from YouTube

Download the mini-playbook

• How to Win on Housing

To realize the unfulfilled promise of our democracy as one where all can thrive, we must commit to developing an individual and collective soul that can love all.

This supplement details how we must move forward into this transformative work of our time by getting our souls right and serving as founders of a new nation that can hold, honor, and nourish all. 

View the digital edition and download the PDF.

Today, millions face the daunting reality of skyrocketing costs and the constant threat of eviction and displacement. The increasing use of housing as a wealth and investment vehicle, the concentration of profit-driven corporate control of housing, and the political and financial retreat of the state are key drivers of our housing affordability crisis.

"Building Our Future: Grassroots Reflections on Social Housing," delves into the urgent need for social housing as a radical, transformative, and common-sense solution to our housing crisis. A growing movement of organizers is advocating for permanently and deeply affordable social housing that is publicly, collectively or non-profit owned and under democratic resident or community control. Through tenant unions, rent strikes, and policy campaigns, groups are demanding public, government intervention to overcome catastrophic market failures and ensure housing for everyone.

As the report makes clear, campaigns for social housing are underway across various regions: 

• In California, organizers claim legislative victories such as SB 555, which mandates a government study on social housing.
• In Seattle, the establishment of the Seattle Social Housing Developer (SSHD) to build publicly owned, permanently affordable housing.
• In Kansas City, Missouri, organizers secured a $50 million bond for affordable housing and through mass tenant organizing are shifting towards campaigns for building municipal social housing. 

This report, crafted by organizers, policy analysts, and educators rooted in housing, racial, and climate justice movements, is intended to serve as a rallying cry and blueprint for transformational housing futures

Read the Full Report. 

Today, millions face the daunting reality of skyrocketing costs and the constant threat of eviction and displacement. The increasing use of housing as a wealth and investment vehicle, the concentration of profit-driven corporate control of housing, and the political and financial retreat of the state are key drivers of our housing affordability crisis.

"Building Our Future: Grassroots Reflections on Social Housing," delves into the urgent need for social housing as a radical, transformative, and common-sense solution to our housing crisis. A growing movement of organizers is advocating for permanently and deeply affordable social housing that is publicly, collectively or non-profit owned and under democratic resident or community control. Through tenant unions, rent strikes, and policy campaigns, groups are demanding public, government intervention to overcome catastrophic market failures and ensure housing for everyone.

As the report makes clear, campaigns for social housing are underway across various regions: 

• In California, organizers claim legislative victories such as SB 555, which mandates a government study on social housing.
• In Seattle, the establishment of the Seattle Social Housing Developer (SSHD) to build publicly owned, permanently affordable housing.
• In Kansas City, Missouri, organizers secured a $50 million bond for affordable housing and through mass tenant organizing are shifting towards campaigns for building municipal social housing. 

This report, crafted by organizers, policy analysts, and educators rooted in housing, racial, and climate justice movements, is intended to serve as a rallying cry and blueprint for transformational housing futures

Read the Executive Summary. 

As one of his first acts in office, President Biden established the Justice40 Initiative through Executive Order 14008: Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad.  Alongside several executive orders and initiatives focused on equitable governance, Justice40 aims to ensure that at least 40 percent of overall benefits of certain federal investments flow to disadvantaged communities. Developed in partnership with the Emerald Cities Collaborative, and in consultation with state and local agencies and policymakers, this guide aims to assist state and local-level administrators optimize federal investments to benefit underserved communities in alignment with the Justice40 Initiative.