By AgnosticPreachersKid – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0

What makes a “home”? What different values come to mind when you think of “home”?
What goals or purposes might we target when we think about housing? These are some
of the questions that spurred a lively discussion with staff at the National Building
Museum. The discussion, facilitated by IF Fellow Natalie Hopkinson and IF Vice
President Jeff Prudhomme, was part of an IF workshop to explore possibilities for
collaboration between the Museum and IF.
The occasion for this exploration is the Museum’s Evicted exhibit. Together with the
museum’s educational staff, IF hopes to develop discussion opportunities for visitors to
engage with each other as they reflect about the concerns raised by the exhibit. Next up
will be a mini-series of IF discussions focused on Housing in connection to the concerns
surrounding housing instability and eviction. This goal will be to produce a minidiscussion
guide that can be useful for the Museum and for broader community
discussions. These discussions also provide a way to extend IF’s project on Shaping
our Towns and Cities. Stay in touch if you’re interested in taking part in any of these
activities. Look for more to develop from this partnership with the Museum in the coming
months.