MINNESOTA: Campaign Pledges “Homes for All” 2004.05.05 HousingMinnesota

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NeighborWorks Symposium: Changing Minds, Building Communities | May 5, 2004 VIII-9

Hosted by Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation and The Campaign for Affordable Housing

MINNESOTA: Campaign Pledges Homes for All HousingMinnesota

In 1999 the Minneapolis Foundation requested proposals to address what it saw as a criticalneedto overcome misperceptions and a lackof understanding about people who needaffordable homes. From that request,HousingMinnesota was born.

A project of the Minnesota HousingPartnership, HousingMinnesota received aninitial grant of $250,000 to engage a

professional advertising agency. Additionalgrants came from the Family Housing Fund andthe Greater Minnesota Housing Fund, and thestate housing agency. The group has grown into

a large coalition, with a steering committee of30 representatives reflecting a broad range of partners.

The goals of HousingMinnesota includedeveloping a policy platform to improvehousing conditions in Minnesota over the next

ten years. Because of the diversity of its members, which include rural and urban housinginterests, first-time homebuyers, advocates for the homeless, and neighborhood developmentgroups, there were many currents and streams of thinking to reconcile, according to ChipHalbach, who oversees HousingMinnesota, along with a staff of three and a VISTA volunteer.

The group selected the public relations firm Tunheim Partners to develop a campaign designed to

build support by building understanding said Halbach. Aimed at business and political leaders,voters, and the media, the multi-year campaign seeks to bring together diverse constituencies to promote and achieve Homes for All by 2012.

We believe that affordable housing at all income levels is key in the creation and sustainabilityof stable families, healthy communities, and statewide economic prosperity, said Halbach indescribing the essence of the campaign.

The campaign materials are designed to put people in need of affordable housing in a positivelight. They feature young teachers, firefighters, police officers, seniors, cooks, day-care workers,and health-care attendants who serve the community but cant afford to live there.

The three-phased campaign helped build momentum leading up to a very successful conferenceon affordable housing, held in the Twin Cities in 2002.

The first phase involved reaching out to the public and developing materials for the advocacygroups in the HousingMinnesota network. The materials included a brochure, radio ads,

billboards, and ads on public transportation.

The second phase focused on engaging the grass tops and grass roots of seven communitysectorslabor, business, education, faith communities, low-income housing advocates, localgovernment, and people directly affected by the housing shortage.

Now in the third phase, the group is emphasizing research, community organizing, and legislative

CASE STUDY IN BRIEF

Begun in 1999, Housing Minnesotas campaignconsisted of three phases:

Phase 1: Reaching out to the public anddeveloping a brochure, radio ads, billboards,and ads on public transportation for theadvocacy groups in the HousingMinnesotanetwork.

Phase 2: Engaging the labor, business,education, and faith communities, low-incomehousing advocates, local government, and

people directly affected by the housingshortage.

Phase 3: Emphasizing research, communityorganizing, and legislative initiatives thatsupport the production and preservation ofaffordable housing for lower-incomeresidents.


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initiatives that support the production and preservation of affordable housing primarily benefitinglower-income residents.

Anecdotally, there has been a very favorable response to the ad campaign within Minnesota andnationally, said Halbach. The group tracked how many times their ads ran and the potentialaudiences reached. They found that the press conference to launch the campaign was picked up

by 24 media outlets.HousingMinnesota has recruited a group of trustees from among the top leaders in the state,including the president of Wells Fargo Bank of Minnesota, the president of the states AFL-CIO,and the states bishops, one of the many positive outcomes Halbach attributes to the campaign.The past five Minnesota governors were also involved and supportive of the campaign and co-convened the 2002 conference, which attracted 1,300 people from across the statefromindividuals living in shelters to more than 200 business representatives.

HousingMinnesota conducted minimal research into attitudes toward affordable housing before orafter its campaign. It relied on existing research, including a poll conducted by the MetropolitanCouncil, the regional planning body for the Twin Cities, that pointed to the shortage of affordablehousing as a key concern of Twin Cities residents, who were found to be largely sympathetic tothe issue.

In 2004, HousingMinnesota is undertaking another round of research and message developmentreflecting the changed economic times and more conservative political environment.

The HousingMinnesota Web site, www.housingminnesota.org , provides examples of ads andcommunications materials, information on housing in Minnesota, affordable housing resourcesincluding federal agencies and national lenders, and talking points that address misperceptionsabout affordable housing.

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For more information, contact:

Chip Halbach

Executive Director800-728-8916, ext. [email protected]

The NeighborWorks Symposium on Multifamily Excellence andThe Campaign for Affordable Housing

gratefully acknowledge the generous support of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.


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MINNESOTA: Campaign Pledges “Homes for All” 2004.05.05 HousingMinnesota

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