Educational programs for teens and young people directly serve the NPHM's mission to encourage community engagement. Programs and curriculum are developed in tandem with the Museum's core and changing exhibits and programs.

The National Public Housing Museum has gathered oral histories from three families who lived in Jane Addams Homes; a Jewish, Italian, and African-American family. When the museum opens to the public, these and other memories will be used to shape and decorate apartments representing seven decades of life in public housing.

Famous entertainers like Barbara Streisand, Jay-Z, and Mary J. Blige all at one point in their lives called public housing home. So did sports stars like Tony Allen, public officials like former President Jimmy Carter, and corporate leaders such as Starbucks founder Howard Schultz.

Chicago has always been a global city, attracting immigrants from every continent during the 20th century. Public housing has served new Chicagoans settling here from countries like Poland, Spain, Cuba, Nigeria, Ghana, the Philippines, and Korea.

The signature NPHM exhibition explored "The Sound, the Soul and the Syncopation" of music from public housing. Using the music made by tenants as a way to explore the varied and diverse cultures found in these communities, the heart of the exhibition reflected on the diversity of those who called public housing home.

Across the globe, public housing has been one of the most important public policies of the 20th century. In America, despite the problems these communities experienced, these programs enabled most residents to get their feet on the ground and move on.

The National Public Housing Museum will be housed in the only surviving building of the historic Jane Addams Home on Chicago's Near West Side. The three-story brick building at 1322-24 West Taylor opened in 1938, designed by a team of architects headed by John Holabird.

The National Public Housing Museum coalesces diverse views from government, academia, research, private industry, and civil society. Through storytelling, it prompts the public to consider what the community can do together to create a more just society.