Chicago is now home to the National Public Housing Museum, a first of its kind institution created alongside people who’ve lived in public housing.

The Rev. Marshall Hatch,pastor of New Mount Pilgrim Church, is one such resident. He grew up in the Jane Addams Homes on the Near West Side and remembers the communities as tight knit and economically integrated.

“It was surreal when we walked in — I walked in with my older sisters,” said Hatch. “It really benefited our families and gave us a great start.”

The museum is located in the last surviving building of the Janes Addams Homes.

Read More: Storytelling and Social Justice are the Heart and Soul of Chicago’s New National Public Housing Museum

Most of the Addams Homes, as well as other public housing developments like Cabrini-Green and the Robert Taylor Homes, were torn down in the 2000s by the Chicago Housing Authority.

“Maybe inadvertent consequences created these pockets of poverty, but it was not that in the beginning, and we get to tell a different story about how important it is to look at all of us living together and everyone having a right to a house,” said Hatch.

The “Good Times” exhibit inside the National Public Housing Museum. (Percy Ollie Jr. / Ollie Photography Inc.)

Outside of the history of public housing, the museum also shows pop culture portrayals of the experience.

“So much of what we do is challenge the stereotypes that we all live with when we hear the word ‘public housing,’ it brings up a visceral feeling for so many people,” said Lisa Yun Lee, executive director and chief curator at the museum. “And so, we do tell the ‘Candyman’ story and you do understand the history of ‘Good Times.’”

The museum enlisted the help of Cabrini-Green residents who picked out their 10 favorite “Good Times” episodes, which shows up in one of the exhibits.

While taking a look at the past, Lee says she wants people to think about what the future of public housing could look like. The museum serves as a template with 15 units of affordable housing attached to the back of the building.

The community is complete with a corner store co-op and recording studio, along with other on-site resources like an oral history program, cultural workforce development and an artist residency.

Lee worries about the future of their space following the Trump administration announcement of cuts to the National Endowment for the Humanities, which affects cultural programs across the country.

“This is a really big concern — not just for museums and libraries but all Americans,” said Lee. “We need to hold government accountable and its role in not just providing housing but for providing vibrant arts and culture and libraries and other institutions that serve all people.”

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