Statement about Mayor Bowser and the National Park Service’s planned eviction of McPherson Square residents
02/13/2023
From Marisol Bello, Executive Director of the Housing Narrative Lab Our choices define our community and we have an important one to make. Mayor Bowser and the National Park Service have chosen to make it a crime to be homeless. They raid encampments and rob people living on the street of their homes and communities without […]
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Essentials for Transformative Narratives: Go On Offense
01/27/2023
Narrative plays a big role in building the public will to solve homelessness. Dominant narratives about people experiencing homelessness focus on individuals making bad personal decisions, which often lead to ineffective and dehumanizing solutions – like clearing tents and throwing out people’s belongings, including ID, medications and what they need to survive. That’s why we’re […]
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Thank you for being part of our first year!
12/20/2022
Housing Narrative Lab launched one year ago. Over the last 12 months we’ve been busy creating a 360 degree view of narrative change by… Researching data-driven strategies that grow the public’s understanding of homelessness. Our messaging focuses on justice and equity and the root causes of homelessness. Training grassroots communicators, national leaders, journalists and others so they have the knowledge and tools […]
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Call Me By My Name
11/02/2022
How Person-Centered Language Amplifies Calls To Action By Amanda J. Richer Imagine living your life as a person whose entire personhood is swapped out for an adjective that describes not who you are, but where you live. I think we can all agree that’s degrading. But describing someone’s experience certainly doesn’t have to be dehumanizing. […]
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Share These Tested Messages in Your Community
09/02/2022
Housing Narrative Lab is offering small grants to organizations like yours to build narrative power around the country. Housing Narrative Lab’s latest research identified narratives that help people better understand that homelessness is the result of systemic causes, such as a severe lack of affordable housing, racist and exclusionary housing policies and jobs that don’t […]
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Essentials for Transformative Narratives: Establishing Shared Values
08/31/2022
As we continue to work together to solve homelessness and housing insecurity, many of us have come to recognize the crucial role that narrative plays in building the public will to solve homelessness. Dominant narratives about people experiencing homelessness rooted in individual failing and personal choice are harmful and lead to ineffective and sometimes dehumanizing solutions. That’s why we’re working to build a transformative narrative that recognizes that housing is a human need and necessary for everyone in our community to thrive.
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