Who We Are

We are a group of national organizations that have aligned behind seeking housing justice in order to end homelessness. Our vision of housing justice realizes the right for everyone in our country to have affordable, safe, accessible, and stable housing. We take an approach grounded in racial justice, economic justice, and equity for all who have been marginalized or minoritized.

Our collective efforts include coordinating advocacy efforts, developing policy recommendations, and leveraging our collective resources to garner the attention of both lawmakers and the public to meet our goals. We know that we have more power and impact when we act together.

 Our coalition is aligned behind three clear imperatives:

  1. Creating an affirmative vision that leads to a fundamentally different housing market in the United States; 
  2. Operating as a coalition of powerful organizations who lead on housing justice; and 
  3. Creating a national ecosystem where we leverage each organizations’ talents and expertise, rather than competing with one another for resources.

Our PRINCIPLES

Operational Principles for Housing Justice

As a coalition, we put together a list of operational principles for housing justice intended to guide our work:

  1. Housing is a human right and must be universally accessible. 
  2. Systems and models should be designed, informed, and managed by people with lived expertise. 
  3. Choice is central and power should be shifted to people at all levels of the system.
  4. We must redress the ongoing legacy of colonialism and racism, particularly anti-Black racism, in our housing and justice policies and practices. This includes current and past harm to historically marginalized communities, particularly BIPOC. We must also evaluate where current policies are making new margins. Solutions should be oriented toward serving people at the lowest incomes.
  5. Systems should be adaptive and designed to predict and respond to the ongoing and future needs of people and communities. They take into account how data is collected and used and anticipate how resource deployment will shift over time.  
  6. Healing is prioritized. Systems should be designed to be inclusive and to meet people where they are.
  7. Services should be trauma-informed, person-centered, and based on self-determination. Services are always offered and participation is always voluntary.
  8. Quality services should be universally accessible and available everywhere, including in rural and tribal communities. People should have access to what they need when they say they need it. Infrastructure must be designed and adapted to create system and model flexibility and to promote freedom of movement.

The National Coalition for Housing Justice welcomes others to join our efforts to reimagine how we can leverage our collective resources to end homelessness. As a new Coalition, we are currently working to develop a fair, equitable, and transparent process to engage diverse voices as NCHJ members, allies, and supporters. We hope to soon be able to share this process with other organizations who might be interested. If you have an interest in learning more about our efforts to expand our reach, or have interest in adding your voice to this work, please reach out to us using this form.