…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 paper by The Brookings Institution Center on Urban and Metropolitan Policy and PolicyLink serves as a primer on how to view the complex issue of gentrification. It reviews the findings, analyses and frameworks developed during the gentrification wave of the ’70s and ’80s. The paper outlines the complex ways that current and “original” residents view gentrification-and clarifies that…

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…

…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,…

…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….

…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…

…Inclusionary housing is gaining attention as a bulwark against displacement amid soaring housing costs. In the Working Paper Inclusionary Housing in the United States: Prevalence, Impact, and Practices, from The Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, authors Emily Thaden and Ruoniu (Vince) Wang, of Grounded Solutions Network, survey the landscape of inclusionary housing in the United States, identifying 886 jurisdictions…

…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…

…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,…

…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…

…  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…

…Developed by the University of Illinois Chicago’s Nathalie P. Voorhees Center for Neighborhood and Community Improvement this toolkit presents strategies for addressing the pressures of gentrification in a community during different phases of gentrification….

…“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…

…Over the past four decades, the Healthy Communities movement has transformed traditional definitions and approaches to health. Philanthropic organizations, nonprofits, and government agencies—driven by the disconnect between health spending and health outcomes, the growing awareness of the importance of the social determinants of health, and the need to address poverty as a means of improving health—are leading efforts to…

…social and economic factors, maximize existing assets, build partnerships, and engage residents to improve health for everyone. All Prize-winning communities are working to advance equity in multiple ways across the six Prize criteria (see box below). This analysis of Prize winners’ application materials, conducted by the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute, specifically examines two areas considered crucial to advancing health…

…In 2015, Communities Joined in Action (CJA) launched this take-home advice series to accelerate local organizations’ efforts toward achieving better health and well-being for their communities. This marks the sixth issue in this series, which is based on semiannual surveys of leaders from organizations catalyzing population health in order to provide usable information for communities. This installment is…

…This literature review will document the vast bodies of scholarship that have sought to examine the issues of gentrification and displacement….

…Measurement can help community development and health practitioners align and optimize their investments and leverage additional resources to achieve shared goals. However, there is no clear guidance for reconciling the established systems for measuring community development activities and outputs—such as housing units built, jobs created, and people served—with the outcomes and impacts of health. The Network’s executive director Doug…

…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…

…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….

Amanda Aronczyk of WNYC investigates New York’s debate on whether Medicaid dollars should be used to pay for supportive housing….

…RWJF‘s Marjorie Paloma writes in Shelterforce on the need for collaboration between community development, health and housing to improve the health of neighborhoods….

Developed in partnership with the American Public Health Association, Georgia Tech, APA and the National Network of Public Health Institutes, the Clearinghouse offers both academic and professional training resources that address the link between public health with planning, architecture, health impact assessment, and transportation engineering, among others….

…Nancy Andrews of the Low Income Investment Fund and Brandee McHale of the Citi Foundation write in the Stanford Social Innovation Review on the need for the “community quarterback”: a model in which a single local organization serves as a lead systems integrator for antipoverty work within a community, bringing together people who work across sectors such as affordable…

…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.”…

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,…

…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…

Health centers offer care to people who are isolated from traditional medical options because of various factors and the investment is paying off. Today, with federal investment from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) and the Affordable Care Act of 2010 (ACA), the number of health centers has reached 1,200. Author: Peg Underhill, Capital Link…

…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…