Philadelphia, November 9, 2015–The Reinvestment Fund and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) announced today the launch of Invest Health, a pioneering, multi-sector initiative that will align people, strategies and capital to improve health in cities across the country. The initiative aims to transform the way city leaders work together to help all communities thrive, with specific attention to factors that drive health in low-income neighborhoods, including a scarcity of quality jobs, affordable housing and nutritious food, high crime rates and unhealthy environmental conditions.
Invest Health will support new partnerships in up to 50 mid-sized cities across the nation. Mid-sized cities offer fertile ground for strategies that improve health and have the potential to boost local economies. Mid-sized cities are where the majority of Americans live and where many experience some of nation’s deepest challenges with entrenched poverty, poor health, and lack of investment.
“Good health is the bedrock of prosperity, so it’s more important than ever that we invest in communities where health challenges are greatest,” said Donald Schwarz, MD, RWJF director. “Invest Health aims to give all families—especially in places hit hardest by poverty and poor health—the opportunity and the means to live the healthiest life possible.” Invest Health was developed in response to the RWJF Commission to Build a Healthier America’s recommendation that we, as a nation, fundamentally change how we revitalize neighborhoods by fully incorporating health into community development.
Invest Health puts this recommendation into action by supporting a learning community where participating cities will better define community challenges, devise solutions, and bring together capital and other funding to build healthier, more equitable communities.
“Like RWJF, The Reinvestment Fund has a long history of advancing health and equity through strategic investments,” said Amanda High, Chief of Strategic Initiatives at The Reinvestment Fund. “In joining forces to spearhead a national initiative, we hope to transform the way cities approach community development—and to catalyze investments for healthy communities at a groundbreaking scale that will improve the lives of people across the country.” Participating cities will be selected through a competitive process that begins in mid-December 2015. To find out more about Invest Health, go to www.investhealth.org.
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About Reinvestment Fund
Reinvestment Fund is a catalyst for change in low-income communities. We integrate data, policy and strategic investments to improve the quality of life in low-income neighborhoods. Using analytical and financial tools, we bring high-quality grocery stores, affordable housing, schools and health centers to the communities that need better access—creating anchors that attract investment over the long term and help families lead healthier, more productive lives. Learn more at reinvestment.com. Follow Reinvestment Fund on Twitter @ReinvestFund or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ReinvestFund.
About the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
For more than 40 years the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has worked to improve health and health care. We are striving to build a national Culture of Health that will enable all to live longer, healthier lives now and for generations to come. For more information, visit www.rwjf.org. Follow the Foundation on Twitter at www.rwjf.org/twitter or on Facebook at www.rwjf.org/facebook.