Housing that is “affordable” isn’t enough. We need housing that is just.
Existing affordable housing in DC doesn’t go far enough to meet the tremendous need. Housing that meets the traditional definition of affordable is often lacking in safety and quality standards, located in areas far from jobs and other resources, and still priced at a point out of reach for extremely low-income households.
Continuing to tackle this problem with existing solutions isn’t enough. Continuing to focus only on “affordable housing” isn’t enough. We need a new concept.
We first heard the term "Justice Housing" from Jubilee Housing and felt it perfectly captured this vision of what housing should look like: a safe, healthy place that serves as both a sanctuary and launching pad for opportunity. A home.
Our vision of justice housing is not only affordable to households with extremely low incomes, it is also sustainable, accessible, safe, high-quality, and located in areas of opportunity. Justice housing upholds and reflects human dignity. It honors each person as an image-bearer of God. And it affirms the right of every individual to have a just place to call home.