The housing crisis in California is characterized by skyrocketing prices, a severe shortage of housing affordable for many households, and many people finding themselves homeless. Yet despite widespread recognition of the need for more housing, projects and policies that would facilitate building additional housing are often opposed by residents who are already comfortably housed.
Meta, parent company of Facebook and Instagram, is based on the San Francisco Peninsula, the epicenter of housing scarcity. As part of a larger housing initiative, Meta reached out to Civity to work with communities to build greater empathy among people of all housing backgrounds.
In conversations with community leaders who are steeped in and passionate about making progress on this challenge, we are hearing that the root issue is how people view their communities – who belongs, who matters. And these leaders see respect-and-empathy relationships as key to moving forward. Building more housing becomes an imperative when all members of the community see each other as “our people” – people who matter.
The core of Civity’s work involves events that build an expansive sense of community belonging. Produced in partnership with existing organizations, these events are interactive and fun – a Civity signature!
We are also finding new ways of sharing the stories of people across the housing spectrum through video storytelling. The Stanford Strengthening Democracy Challenge study highlighted the effectiveness of Civity Storytelling, and we are continuing this approach.
It can be difficult to introduce new ways of talking into spaces – and issues – that are often host to conflict. But we at Civity know that “the conversation before the conversation” and expanding the “we” can make these spaces more productive for everyone.