Housing Justice Center

"Sold Out: Affordable Housing at Risk" segment feat. Tim Thompson, HJC Attorney; Linda Soderstrom & Warren Hanson, HJC Board Members

Housing Justice Center (HJC) is a nonprofit public interest advocacy and legal organization whose mission is to preserve and expand affordable housing for low-income individuals and families in Minnesota and beyond. We advocate for three primary strategies:

• Production: We promote the development of deeply affordable homes for very low-income people.
• Preservation: We fight to save affordable homes for people who need them most.
• Protection: We defend tenants’ rights and remove legal and policy barriers that prevent access to affordable housing.

HJC is the only organization in Minnesota using a combination of legal tools, policy advocacy, tenant organizing, education, and research to achieve these goals:

• Legal advocacy: We focus on impact litigation — prioritizing cases that could set legal precedent in order to promote broader systemic change. We use legal advocacy to raise the profile of critical affordable housing issues, to test new legal theories related to affordable housing, and to expand the application of existing laws. 
• Policy advocacy: We create and advocate for innovative policy changes that preserve, produce, and protect affordable housing. What sets us apart from other housing advocacy groups is our deep understanding of the legal details. Other organizations turn to us for our expertise in crafting policy that can achieve major impact.
• Tenant organizing: We help people organize for housing justice in their communities. HJC believes that organized communities are at the heart of effective systems change. Our staff organizers work with tenants and manufactured home park residents across Minnesota to build collective power, assert their legal rights, and shape their housing futures. 
• Education: We educate the public, the media, community-based organizations, and policymakers about affordable housing law and policy to identify emerging issues and advance innovative solutions. HJC is an expert at distilling problems and cutting through jargon so everyone can understand the real issues at stake.
• Research: Our technical expertise means HJC often produces research that answers key questions for the field. Affordable housing developers, economic development agencies, policymakers, coalitions, and community organizations rely on this research to make the case for new housing investments, tenant protection, and affordable housing preservation.

To learn more, please visit us at www.hjcmn.org. 

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