Making a House a Home: A Community Plan for Regional Engagement on Housing

This plan was developed for Virginia Organizing, a statewide non-partisan grassroots organization dedicated to challenging injustice by empowering local communities. The plan was designed to produce a replicable model for organizers embarking on housing campaigns. Research on the Virginia Organizing chapters in Fredericksburg and Charlottesville was completed as well as on the broader affordable housing ecosystems in these regions. This research was gathered through interviews with regional and local planners, organizers, non-profit representatives, and individuals working in the intersection of planning and organizing. Chapter member research, which guided this plan, was conducted through surveying, focus groups, and qualitative mapping. Findings focused on regionalism, internal and external capacity, time and expectations, and power and roles. The plan utilized best practices in Richmond, Virginia and Washington, D.C. combined with chapter research to produce the replicable model and recommendations. The replicable model suggests increasingly difficult campaign goals based on the level of capacity in the region. Plan implementation addresses the chapter, non-profit ecosystem, and broader community involved in housing. This plan was produced in the belief that everyone must be included in moving from policy to action.