Featured Team
Des Moines, IA
Des Moines, Iowa represents a tale of two cities. While downtown Des Moines is enjoying a renaissance of sorts— with significant investments made over the last two years in economic development, job growth, and quality-of-life improvements—a group of eight diverse neighborhoods on the northern edge of downtown, which are all part of the 50314 ZIP code, have yet to see the same energy pouring into revitalization.
May 2016
50 Cities Selected for Invest Health
Reinvestment Fund and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) today announced $3 million in awards across 50 mid-size cities in 31 states for Invest Health, an initiative aimed at transforming how city leaders work together to help low-income communities thrive, with specific attention to community features that improve health.
ABOUT THE PROGRAM
INVEST HEALTH
Invest Health is a new initiative that brings together diverse leaders from mid-sized U.S. cities across the nation to develop new strategies for increasing and leveraging private and public investments to accelerate improvements in neighborhoods facing the biggest barriers to better health. The program is a collaboration between the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Reinvestment Fund.
This initiative was developed to provide an opportunity for mid-sized cities to transform the way local leaders work together to create solution-driven and diverse partnerships. These partnerships will emphasize making changes in low-income neighborhoods to improve resident health and well-being. These changes can focus on increasing access to quality jobs, affordable housing, and nutritious food, and reducing crime rates and environmental hazards.
WHY THE PROGRAM WAS DEVELOPED
PROGRAM GOALS
BRING TOGETHER DISPARATE SECTORS in mid-sized cities to align around a vision for better health, create innovative ideas, and unlock new sources of investment.
HELP MID-SIZED CITIES ATTRACT CAPITAL to improve health outcomes in low-income communities.
BUILD LASTING RELATIONSHIPS in these cities that extend beyond the length of the program and help inform work in other communities nationwide.
TEST POTENTIAL SOLUTIONS to inform the national conversation about how to best invest to achieve health equity in more communities throughout the U.S.
ADVANCE SYSTEMS-FOCUSED STRATEGIES that reach across sectors to support health improvement in low-income communities.
HELP CITIES USE DATA AS A DRIVER for change, beginning with an evidence-based understanding of the problem and continuing to a data framework for assessing impact.
CITIES
PARTICIPATING TEAMS
Akron, OH
Buffalo, NY
Des Moines, IA
Napa, CA
Roanoke, VA
Richmond, VA
Jackson, TNNATIONAL
ADVISORY COMMITTEE
Ivye Allen
President, Foundation for the Mid South
Jeffrey Brown
Founder, President and CEO of Brown’s Super Stores, Inc.
Ray Daffner
Director of Entrepreneurship Programming at the ARC
Dr. David Fleming
PATH’s vice president of Public Health
Jenny Ismert
Vice President of Housing at UnitedHealthcare
Dr. Otis Samuel Johnson
Scholar in Residence at Savannah State University
Dr. Michael McAfee
President at PolicyLink
John Moon
District Mgr. for Community Development, Federal Reserve Bank of SF
Rebecca Morley
Director of the Health Impact Project
Maggie Super Church
Independent Consultant
Mark Van Brunt
Chief Operating Officer, Raza Development Fund
Paul Weech
Principal, Innovative Housing Strategies, LLC
RECENT
NEWS
January 2018
New Orleans Convening
In December, 2017, the 50 Invest Health cities gathered for the fourth and final national convening in New Orleans, LA. Among the highlights of the convening was a keynote by Jamie Bennett of ArtPlace America. …
August 2017
Phoenix Convening Highlights
Thanks to our 50 Invest Health teams for joining us at the third national convening in Phoenix, AZ! From the sector-based discussions to the working sessions and “Master Classes,” teams engaged with experts in the field as well as participants from across the country. Themes covered included using data to drive solutions as well as communications and storytelling.
March 2017
Invest Health: Equity Over Equality
Jennifer Daly, Greater Peoria Economic Development Council
In early 2016, I was invited to join a local group pursuing a grant to improve health outcomes in the City of Peoria. The grant, called Invest Health, was designed to bring together a diverse group of leaders from midsized U.S. cities to develop new strategies for increasing and leveraging private and public investments to accelerate improvements in neighborhoods facing the biggest barriers to better health. The program is a collaboration between the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Reinvestment Fund.
CONTACT To learn more about this important initiative
email us at info@investhealth.org.
email us at info@investhealth.org.