…We are now witnessing not just a health crisis but a community crisis. What is the role for community development investment and cross-sector partnership with healthcare in strengthening resilience and increasing equity in our post-pandemic world? How are these sectors working together to drive meaningful investments toward our hardest hit communities? On May 6th, our Network Commons explored these…
…Access the Community Development 101 overview here. The Build Healthy Places Network’s primer provides an overview of the community development sector, a multi-billion-dollar sector that serves as an action arm for addressing social determinants of health through the development and financing of affordable housing, grocery stores, community centers, health clinics, and services in low- and moderate-income communities. The overview…
…When it comes to health, your ZIP code may be more important than your genetic code. Learn more with this primer by the RWJF Commission to Build a Healthier America on the connections between community and health….
…This toolkit by the Rural Health Information Hub organizes evidence-based models and resources to support the implementation of programs that address the social determinants of health (SDOH) in rural communities across the United States. The toolkit includes 7 essential modules that provide promising examples and strategies for organizations implementing programs and identifying the specific barriers that rural communities…
…The Mariposa Healthy Living Initiative began in 2009, when the Denver Housing Authority and its master planning team established physical, mental, and community health as a proxy to understand how redevelopment actions would change the quality of life for residents. The Initiative recognizes that the built environment is a determinant of health outcomes, which ultimately influence the quality and…
…This literature review summarizes what we currently know from research about the effects of stable and affordable housing. The research is condensed into defensible points – backed by solid supporting evidence – to serve as a resource for understanding and communicating the many impacts of affordable housing….
…When you invest in the Enterprise Community Impact Note, you are supporting the creation of vibrant and equitable communities where families have access to healthy, affordable homes connected to good schools, jobs, transit and health care services. This report features the stories of people who are prospering thanks to your support. They are residents and patients at CAMBA Gardens in…
…early. Your address reflects the daily living conditions that can create—or limit—your opportunities to be healthy. This report from the UCSF Center on Social Disparities in Health, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Build Healthy Places Network is intended to be a resource for those working to improve low-income communities and the lives of the people living in them….
…An increasing number of initiatives have been launched with a goal of inspiring multisector approaches to improving community health. Public health agencies at local, state, and federal levels, in partnership with other government leadership, can play a vital role in leading across silos and bringing the various sectors together. The broad, community efforts for public health exemplified by…
…This resource is a side by side comparison of the regulatory structures and policy goals of the Community Reinvestment Act and Non-Profit Hospital Community Benefit. This comparison was produced in partnership between the National Alliance of Community Economic Development Associations (NACEDA) and Community Catalyst….
…This report by the New York State Health Foundation outlines which hospitals in New York State and nationally are addressing non-medical determinants of community population health, as well as facilitators of and barriers to this work. …
…A new book, What It’s Worth: Strengthening the Financial Future of Families, Communities and the Nation provides a 360-degree view of the financial problems and challenges millions of American households face. The book highlights the enormous creativity and innovation underway to improve financial well-being, and provides concrete ways that nearly all sectors of society can implement proven and…
…“Community investing” is investment that seeks to deliver social benefits to low-income or marginalized communities while also generating a financial return. This report provides an overview of the U.S. Community Investing (USCI) field: the types of intermediary organizations raising investments and deploying them in underserved communities, the range of investment products that are available, and the types of investors…
…Creating opportunities for healthy living makes a community stronger. The Community Healthy Living Index (CHLI), developed by the YMCA of the USA, helps a community assess its support for healthy living in the places where people live, work, learn, and play, allowing their community members to lead fuller, healthier, lives. Healthy lifestyles are difficult to maintain without supportive environments….
…Healthy Kids, Healthy Communities is a national program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation whose primary goal is to implement healthy eating and active living policy‐ and environmental‐change initiatives that can support healthier communities for children and families across the United States. The program places special emphasis on reaching children who are at highest risk for obesity based on…
…What Counts: Harnessing Data for America’s Communities, from the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco and the Urban Institute, outlines opportunities and challenges for the strategic use of data to reduce poverty, improve health, expand access to quality education, and build stronger communities. It is a response to both the explosive interest in using data to guide community initiatives,…
…In his testimony for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Commission to Build a Healthier America, David Fleming, former director and health officer of Public Health in Seattle and King County, Washington, discusses the need to move beyond just our health care and public health systems to engage other natural partners in improving community health. Underpinning the poor national health…
…David Erickson of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco discusses how the RWJF Commission to Build a Healthier America can help bridge the gap between health and community development. Erickson builds on the RWJF Commission’s initial recommendations to show how community development can improve health, calling for the merging of two key approaches—ameliorating the social determinants of health,…
… The potential of community-based solutions to advance health equity is a focus because the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) asked the Committee on Community-Based Solutions to Promote Health Equity to consider solutions that could be identified, developed, and implemented at the local or community level. However, the report focus should not be interpreted to suggest that community-based…
…This resource from the Build Healthy Places Network guides community developers toward partnerships with hospitals and healthcare systems. Gain practical advice on navigating the vast healthcare ecosystem with your organizational assets in mind. Create your roadmap for partnership! Download the playbook, Partnerships for Health Equity and Opportunity: A Healthcare Playbook for Community Developers. Download the Four-Step Path to Community…
by Paula Braveman, Elaine Arkin, Tracy Orleans, Dwayne Proctor, Alonzo Plough This is a report from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Definitions can matter. While differences between some definitions may represent stylistic preferences, others can reflect deep divides in values and beliefs that can be used to justify and promote very different policies and practices. Clarity is…
…This new report by Enterprise Community Partners and NeighborWorks America shows how an innovative pilot program – the Health Outcomes Demonstration Project – equipped 20 affordable housing and community development organizations to evaluate health outcomes across a range of programs. The evaluated programs include neighborhood improvement and community safety initiatives, youth education and services, housing improvement, service coordination…
…A collaborative initiative by three federal agencies aims to increase the supply of nutritious foods in urban and rural areas where access to healthy food is low. Jacob Wascalus of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis writes in the April 2013 of Community Dividend about how collaborative projects can create the critical mass necessary to make healthy food environments…
…How can measurement support an adaptive change process in a community system striving to optimize population well-being? How can integration and management of data collection and analysis work in practice? This case study of the Magnolia Community Initiative describes such a measurement system, and offers it as an example to illustrate a set of principles for measurement. Authors: Moira…
…Community development isn’t just about where low-income people live; it’s about how well they live. Zip code and health are intrinsically linked. In the first of a series of articles on this from the Institute for Comprehensive Community Development, LISC’s Amy Gillman looks at how and why community development has become so critical to the question of better health…
…African American community. A lawsuit would eventually force the city to lay water lines to the black residents. It is this kind of persistent discrimination—well into the 21st century—that leads to the health disparities we see between Americans of color and white Americans. It is also an example of how our neighborhood matters to our health. But one tool in…
…green spaces has multiple benefits. Communities that implement greening can improve mental and physical health outcomes; reduce stress, aggression, and the incidence and severity of psychiatric conditions; increase social interaction; enhance childhood development; and minimize stormwater runoff. And, research shows, greening can reduce and prevent violence, especially when it’s part of a comprehensive prevention strategy that distributes the work across…
