The MHP Manual to Conducting Community Housing Needs Assessments was designed for individuals and organizations involved in housing issues, particularly in towns or counties that do not employ professional housing or planning staff. Important potential users of this manual include the local planning board, housing authority, nonprofit housing sponsors, homeless assistance providers, special needs’ group advocates, and community volunteers. Small communities would benefit from joint efforts with neighboring communities within the county or among member communities in a regional planning area. A Community Housing Needs Assessment is labor intensive, time consuming, and logistically complicated to organize and manage, as it involves a considerable amount of data collection.