Report cover - Title reads 'Messaging Guide for Communicating about Homelessness'. A person is holding up their hand to their mouth and speaking into a loudspeaker. The Housing Narrative Lab is above the title.

Housing Narrative Lab

By Housing Narrative Lab

Contents

Introduction

The Housing Narrative Lab, based in the United States, is a national narrative research, storytelling and strategic communications hub focused on shifting mindsets and building support for solutions to housing unaffordability, housing insecurity and homelessness. They develop data-driven and research-based communications tools.

Explore the Housing Narrative Lab resources including messaging guides below.

Who We Are

The Lab was launched to change the current public conversation about homelessness – specifically shifting people’s understanding about who becomes homeless and why – and to create a new narrative that is grounded in research and values-based messaging.

The Housing Narrative Lab tells the story of the people in our communities who experience housing insecurity and homelessness and why, and how safe and affordable housing is their first step toward stability and opportunity. We lead with equity because we know that Black, brown, Indigenous and immigrant people in our communities disproportionately bear the brunt of the nation’s housing crisis.

We conduct narrative research and provide tools and training to implement the research for those working on housing solutions that make our communities stronger. We provide project- and campaign-based narrative support, including messaging, storytelling and strategic communications, that move people to action. We want to work together to advance the real story of how to ensure everyone in our communities has a safe, stable place to live.

Resources

Read Reports and Messaging Guides

Narrative Essentials

Messaging Guide for Communicating about Homelessness

Housing the Heartland: Messaging research on housing and homelessness in three Heartland communities

Abbreviated Field Guide for Narrative Change

Research Can Inform a Strong Narrative Strategy

Everyday Interactions are Part of Narrative Change

Recommendations for supporting storytellers who have experienced homelessness or unstable housing

Framing/Messaging Guidance: Housing/Asylum-seekers and migrants

Advancing Narratives For Housing And Care In A Reactionary Landscape

A Guide to Affecting Narrative Change on Social Media

Listen to Podcasts

Storytelling is in my Soul

If you have lived through the harrowing experience of eviction and the long slide or quick jolt into homelessness or advocated for those who have, this conversation with Marisol Bello is a tribute to you. It is critical listening for journalists who report on homelessness without fully grasping the nuances of the insurmountable gaps between low wages and spiraling rents. It is for politicians with homeless constituents who can either criminalize them through sweeps or invest in affordable housing production. And it is for anyone that has not interrogated the systems that make homelessness with disproportionate impacts in Black and Brown communities inevitable. Marisol leads Housing Narrative Lab, a nonprofit that is building a new narrative about homelessness by giving voice to our collective need for and love of home. She and her team start with the understanding that homelessness is what happens when there is no housing justice. They are formulating a narrative powerful enough to pierce through biases and grow the public will to solve America’s housing and homelessness crisis. We know the policy solutions needed. When the narrative is strong enough we will collectively push them forward.

Don’t Be Afraid of Authenticity: Messaging Homelessness in a Polarized World, Homeless Unfiltered by Invisible People

In a world filled with soundbites and spin, authenticity isn’t just a strategy—it’s a necessity. In this eye-opening episode, Marisol Bello, Executive Director of the Housing Narrative Lab; Thomas Murphy, Vice President of Communications at the National Alliance to End Homelessness; and Tamera Kohler, CEO of the Regional Task Force on Homelessness, share how honest, transparent messaging can break through the noise and combat the harmful rhetoric surrounding homelessness.

From addressing the public’s frustration and redirecting blame toward the real systemic issues, to navigating political pressures and amplifying stories of lived experience, this conversation dives deep into the power of real talk. The guests also discuss the pitfalls of sugarcoating and how vulnerable, data-backed storytelling can build public trust and shift the focus from fear and stereotypes to solutions.

If you’re tired of surface-level narratives and want to understand how to communicate homelessness with impact and empathy, this episode is a must-listen.