The Health Impact Project, a collaboration of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and The Pew Charitable Trusts, is a national initiative designed to promote the use of health impact assessments (HIAs) as a decision-making tool for policymakers. Analyze data on HIAs and their impact across the country, read the latest news on HIAs and learn about upcoming events….

…Across America, babies born just a few miles apart have dramatic differences in health outcomes. These maps, created by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Commission to Build a Healthier America, illustrate how a short distance between two city neighborhoods can mean large disparities in life expectancy.   Metro Map: Washington D.C. by RWJF on RWJF.org Metro Map: New Orleans,…

…The National Center for Healthy Housing, the Center for Housing Policy, ChangeLab Solutions, and Trust for America’s Health released an issue brief calling for greater collaboration between the public health and housing communities. The paper recommends a more coordinated and integrated approach among housing, environmental health, and public health agencies to help improve the health of children, older adults…

…A report by the National Association of Community Health Centers and the National Association of County and City Health Officials provides an overview of several partnership opportunities available to federally qualified health centers (FQHCs) and local health departments (LHDs) seeking to improve health outcomes in their community, while promoting cost-effective care….

…Realizing that disconnected silo-based efforts cannot effectively address these interrelated conditions on their own, innovators within the community development field have increasingly experimented with a different approach that speaks to linked community challenges. In this emerging approach, professionals from different but related community development sectors work together in a multi-sector coalition toward a common goal with an aim to…

In 2001, CalPERS established the California Initiative to invest private equity in traditionally underserved markets, with the objective of generating attractive financial returns. This report examines the impact of the Initiative as a model of targeted investment….

…Recognition by the business community of the need to invest in creating healthy communities is growing. Visionary leaders from business and emerging countries have met to talk about innovation and investments in communities. These leaders recognize the need for addressing social determinants of health in order to enhance the health and well-being of communities and to further the progress…

The direct effects of poor quality or unsafe housing on health are well established; researchers have also increasingly turned significant attention to the role of housing affordability in fostering stability and reducing stress. In this brief by the National Housing Conference, Rebecca Cohen details the results of research on the pathways through which affordable housing can affect the…

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s NewPublicHealth blog published a series of infographics exploring the connections between our health and the places where we live, learn, work and play, View their infographic on education and health below:…

…in America. The annual Rankings provide a revealing snapshot of how health is influenced by where we live, learn, work and play. They provide a starting point for change in communities. The Roadmaps provide guidance and tools to understand the data, and strategies that communities can use to move from education to action. Follow the County Health Rankings & Roadmaps…

…This report, prepared by Wilder Research and the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis for the RWJF Commission to Build a Healthier America, provides new information on collaborative action to improve the health of communities across the country. It addresses the following questions: What collaborative activity is occurring between the health and community development sectors in the United States? What…

…Investing in What Works for America’s Communities is a book that calls on leaders from the public, private, and nonprofit sectors to build on what we know is working to move the needle on poverty. The book’s authors represent a broad range of sectors including federal agencies, philanthropy, housing academia, health, and the private sector. This collection of essays…

…Healthy People, by the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, provides science-based, 10-year national objectives for improving the health of all Americans. For 3 decades, Healthy People has established benchmarks and monitored progress over time in order to: Encourage collaborations across communities and sectors. Empower individuals toward making informed health decisions. Measure the impact of prevention activities.  …

Despite leading the world on medical care spending, Americans have worse health and shorter lives than people in other affluent nations. Our international ranking has been slipping over time, and it is not only poor Americans who are affected. Middle-class and even wealthy Americans also are less healthy than their counterparts in other affluent countries. The results of…

A working paper examines the California Organized Insurance Network (COIN) CDFI Tax Credit Program, its job expansion implications and key drivers necessary to replicate the model….

…Can community development finance help “bend the cost curve” for health care? That is one of the questions motivating this issue of the Review. In light of the insights and research from the authors in this volume of the Community Development Investment Review, the answer is a resounding yes. The reality is that people who live in supportive, connected,…

…This Health Affairs article, jointly authored by Sandra Braunstein of the Federal Reserve and Risa Lavizzo-Mourey of RWJF, explores the growing partnerships between the health and community development sectors as well as the challenges they face, and offers policy recommendations that might help them succeed….

…In a dangerous cycle, medical bills are a common cause of foreclosure—and the stress and financial crisis of foreclosure causes an increase in serious health problems. Author: Rachel Blake, Regional Housing Legal Services…

The Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), Morgan Stanley and the Kresge Foundation have partnered to create the Healthy Futures Fund, an initiative to support development of Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) in underserved areas as well as affordable housing that incorporates health programs for low-income residents. The fund is seeded with $100 million in equity, loans and grants,…

…What matters most to health is the context in which we live our lives. This calls for a profoundly different health delivery and financing system with some pretty hefty obstacles in the way. But it is possible to meet these challenges. This article in the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco‘s Community Development Investment Review, by Rick Brush of…

…Housing mobility can complement community revitalization for children with serious health challenges. Philip Tegeler of the Poverty & Race Research Action Council and Salimah Hankins of the American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland write in Shelterforce about the advantages of programs like Baltimore’s Housing Mobility Program, which has moved over 1,500 very low-income families to desegregated “areas of opportunity.”…

…In 2008, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) convened the Commission to Build a Healthier America to help us find better ways to improve the health of our nation. The Commission—a national, nonpartisan group of leaders from both the public and private sectors—issued 10 sweeping recommendations aimed at improving the health of all Americans. The Commission’s work sparked a…

…Much research demonstrates that where you live – and the socioeconomic conditions present in that place – determine individual-level health outcomes. The premise that individual stressors tend to aggregate themselves into communities with poor socioeconomic status (SES) leads to the conclusion that “where you live determines how long you live.” As former Federal Reserve Chairman Bernanke stated, “Factors such…

Philip Tegeler of the Poverty & Race Research Action Council, Mindy Fullilove of the New York State Psychiatric Institute at Columbia University and Sister Lillian Murphy of Mercy Housing have a conversation with Shelterforce about the intersections between place and health.  …

…Success Measures is an outcome evaluation resource for community development organizations, intermediaries and funders. A social enterprise based at NeighborWorks® America, Success Measures was created by practitioners and funders who wanted to document their impact for the people and communities they serve. Its participatory approach equips nonprofits and their funders with skills and tools needed to demonstrate results and…

Pay for Success is a new financial and contracting tool that pays investor-funded nonprofits for delivering measurable social outcomes. This approach, while still new, increases investment in evidence-based programs and creates investable opportunities for impact investors and potentially CRA-motivated banks as well. One particularly ripe opportunity for Pay for Success is in health improvement. This article, authored by…

…This Health Impact Assessment (HIA) examines the potential health impacts that could result from investments made by the Healthy Neighborhoods Equity Fund (HNEF), a $30 million private equity fund model that would consider the community, environmental, and health benefits of a proposed project as well as the financial risks and returns. The analysis was conducted by using three Transit…

The Low Income Investment Fund developed the Social Impact Calculator, a tool that allows you to put a dollar value on the benefits of things like an affordable home, a great school or access to transit. Read a two-pager on the Social Impact Calculator and learn more about its methodologies….

…MacArthur’s How Housing Matters to Families and Communities initiative explores the notion that stable, quality housing may be an essential “platform” that promotes positive outcomes in education, employment, and physical and mental health, among other areas. To that end, the foundation embarked on a five-year, $25 million research investment, which included support for a research network and 42…

…Across the country, new partnerships between community development finance and health organizations are being formed to create healthier communities. To spotlight one example from the Ninth Federal Reserve District: When Greater Minnesota Housing Fund, a community development financial institution, recently created a fund to attract socially inclined companies to invest in housing, Twin Cities-based health organization UnitedHealth Group, Inc.,…