Housing is a crisis everywhere. Whether in large coastal cities, smaller towns, rural areas, or non-continental geographies, housing is increasingly out of reach, particularly options that are safe, habitable, and quality. And everywhere, false narratives circulate that impact Black and brown communities the most deeply – stories that say folks should work more or work harder to access better housing, stories that strip dignity from people who face housing insecurity and experience homelessness, stories that blame simply zoning regulations for the affordable housing crisis, or stories that scapegoat community input for slowing down development and restricting the availability of housing. 

And yet these narratives mask other storylines – that policy choices and structural racism, not individual choices, built this segregated housing system, brick by brick. That there need to be many targeted approaches, not one silver bullet to a solution. About the racial disparities in appraisal biases that cost Black homeowners hundreds of thousands of dollars in the undervaluation of properties. Of the profitability embedded in programs purportedly intended to support those who need secure housing the most. That we can’t develop our way out of the racialized inequities that are baked into the housing system, where the gap between Black and white homeownership is currently greater than it was when the 1968 Fair Housing Act was passed, and where disparities are echoed in home value, home condition, and homelessness. 

In this issue, The People’s Practice features practitioners who are shaping a new conversation through innovative solutions that combat the narratives baked deeply into our collective logic about the housing crisis. From Hawaii to Iowa, from organizing to end homelessness to cooperative land ownership, from home repair to tenant protections, we sketch a new blueprint for housing in community development – one that centers justice, is serious about sharing power, stays suspicious of tokenizing voices of communities of color, challenges harmful dominant narratives, and focuses on anti-racist solutions that hold housing as a human right, where everyone can finally find a place to call home.

Onward.