Dear Invest Health city team members and friends,
It’s been over a year since many organizations across the country made public declarations regarding racism. And although for some, the journey ended with that statement, for many, it’s still only the beginning of taking the steps to operationalize the policies and practices intended to ensure that racial equity is being advanced.
As organizations put the very real work in to fix their own houses first, that internal organizational reflection and transformation creates the foundational systems change needed to advance racial equity. In our blog this month, Deanna Minus-Vincent from RWJBarnabas Health shares how the organization is writing a new prescription to become an anti-racist health system. While each organization continues its own racial equity journey, those process learnings may help guide others along the way.
This November, let’s lean in – beyond thanks and gratitude – to justice. There is still a lot to be grateful for in these challenging times though, and as we strive to build a more just and equitable world, each one of us, one organization at a time, can make a difference.
In partnership,
Jennifer Fassbender and the Invest Health Program Team |
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OPPORTUNITIES
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Announcing the 2021 Round of the Healthy Food Financing Initiative
[ Call for Applications]
Reinvestment Fun d is inviting applications for grant awards and technical assistance through the 2021 round of the America’s Healthy Food Financing Initiative (HFFI) Targeted Small Grants Program. Funding is provided by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), authorized by the Farm Bill. Reinvestment Fund serves as the national fund manager for the HFFI program at USDA. The 2021 HFFI round is offering at least $4 million in grant funds for food retail and food enterprises working to improve access to healthy foods in underserved areas, to create and preserve quality jobs, and to revitalize low-income communities. Letters of interest are now being accepted through December 7, 2021. To learn more, click here.
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Applications for Health Justice Award
Now Open
[ Call for Applications]
The Root Cause Coalition (TRCC) recently announced the establishment of the Health Justice Award which will recognize and honor organizations that have successfully implemented a program or intervention to reduce health disparities within the past three years. The inaugural winner of the Award will receive $25,000 and will be formally recognized at TRCC’s Annual National Summit on the Social Determinants of Health in 2022. The deadline to apply for the award is January 31, 2022. To learn more and apply, please click here.
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Healthy Eating Research Special Solicitation: COVID-19 and Socioeconomic Recovery Efforts
[ Call for Proposals ]
Th is Call for Proposals aims to fund research on how COVID-19-related relief and recovery policies and programs impact child health and well-being. Healthy Eating Research (HER) is interested in understanding how social and economic programs and policies related to poverty reduction—such as financial payments to families, income assistance programs, housing assistance or housing security programs, and increased access to social services—impact child obesity, diet quality, food security, and other relevant child and family health outcomes among lower-income and families of color. Concept papers are due by November 17, 2021. To learn more, click here.
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Place Driving Equity: Investing in Public Space for Shared Prosperity
[ Webinar ]
 Place—the unique space where the physical environment meets the social, emotional, and spiritual aspects unique to human life—is one of the most important drivers of equity and prosperity in communities. However, far too many neighborhoods in the United States have faced decades-long disinvestment, increased concentrated poverty and ongoing, systemic racism, challenging the benefits that vibrant communities can bring. In response, civic infrastructure, such as parks, trails, libraries, community centers and the public realm, is increasingly critical to creating economic opportunity, eliminating racism, and promoting health. Join Reimagining the Civic Commons on Wednesday, November 10th at 1:00PM for the release of Place Driving Equity: An evidence-based action guide on the role of public space for shared prosperity. To learn more and register, click here.
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Preserving Local Food Systems with Federal Financing
[ Webinar ]
The Council of Development Finance Agencies (CDFA)’s Federal Financing Webinar Series continues on December 14, 2021 at 2:00pm (ET). Hear from experts at the United States Department of Agriculture about their various programs available for rural food systems and agricultural producers to recover from the pandemic. To learn more and register, click here.
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RESOURCES
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An Rx for Systemic Racism - A Health Systems Racial Equity Journey
How RWJBarn abas Health (RWJBH) intended to End Racism Together (ERT) was to engage every key stakeholder with which it connected. From its workforce to its board, its patients to its community, its vendors to its partners—that is how sustainable change is made. While the prescription to end systemic racism at RWJBH is ambitious, it’s clear that other organizations starting at a different place will need to tailor their approach to fit their own context and needs. Ending Racism Together is designed to address systemic racism and promote an antiracist culture at RWJBH. Geared towards individuals of all races and ethnicities, it prioritizes those that are most disenfranchised with poor health, social, economic, and educational outcomes. DeAnna Minus-Vincent, Executive Vice President and Chief Social Justice & Accountability Officer at RWJBH writes about strategies organizations can employ to identify and systematically confront racism and discrimination as well as create a culture that promotes equity and diversity. To read the full blog, click here.
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New Report: Racial and Ethnic Valuation Gaps in Home Purchase Appraisals
 A new report by Freddie Mac found that homes in Black and Latino neighborhoods were more than twice as likely to be undervalued than homes in white neighborhoods. The report analyzed 12 million appraisals between 2015 and 2020. Though only 7.4 percent of homes in majority-white areas were undervalued, that proportion rose to 12.5 percent and 15.4 percent of homes in Black and Latino areas, respectively. “This is a persistent problem that disproportionately impacts hundreds of thousands of Black and Latino applicants,” said Michael Bradley, a senior vice president at Freddie Mac. To learn more, click here.
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Closing the Funding Gap for Housing Developers of Color
At close to $175 billion, the U.S. housing development market is huge and expanding annually at a nifty 6% clip. But Black Americans and other people of color are estimated to make up less than 5% of the developers in the country. To boost minority participation in the industry, U.S. Bank and Enterprise Community Partners (ECP) in July announced a $30 million bond to provide loans to Black, Indigenous and other housing developers of color. To learn more, click here.
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Upstream Investments in Community Health: Racial Equity Must Shape Future Community Investments
The COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately impacted people with low incomes and communities of color and underscored the importance of social determinants tied to health. As part of the population health summit hosted by the Center for Community Investment and Nationwide Children’s, From Roadmap to Reality: Implementation Strategies for Upstream Investments in Community Health, a panel of leading experts on health equity and community health discussed the critical issue of racial inequality and how to create a racial justice agenda focused on upstream investments. To learn more, click here.
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Racial Appreciation Gap Limits Financial Benefits for Black Homeowners
Homeownership can be a key wealth-building
tool, but evidence shows that racism embedded in home price appreciation restricts the ability of Black homeowners to build wealth. This study analyzes Atlanta home sale data showing both racial and income characteristics influenced home price appreciation from before the height of the housing boom to the postcrisis recovery. The authors argue this appreciation gap demonstrates how homeownership under racial capitalism doesn’t benefit Black and white people equally. Read more about the initiative here.
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What Is Trauma-Informed Design?
 The growing awareness of the impact of the built environment on our health is one reason for the growth of trauma-informed design — design that includes adaptations to support a strengths-based framework based in an understanding of, and responsiveness to, the impact of trauma. “Trauma-informed design for any community would have to look at the space and environment, as well as the structural design and space in terms of landscaping, such as the addition of exterior fences and light fixtures. You can translate that to the community making sure there’s enough open space and choices in space for residents.” To learn more, click here.
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A Homeownership Program that Takes Health into Account
Where you live matters, for both economic prospects and health. A recently released study of 10 U.S. cities confirms the gap between majority-white areas and neighborhoods of color is still increasing in key health and financial amenities. The study, by Zillow, was commissioned by the National Fair Housing Alliance (NFHA) for the 50th anniversary of the Fair Housing Act in 2018, and updated this year to cover all 10 cities in NFHA’s Keys Unlock Dreams Initiative, a three-year project that aims to sharply boost homeownership among people of color. While the primary goal is removing barriers to homebuying, one of the unusual things about the initiative is its attempt to break new ground in connecting fair housing assessments and health assessments in the target metropolitan areas. To learn more, click here.
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Keep Sharing Updates
Keep sharing updates on your work, including special events and news media pieces to us using this online form. We look forward to hearing from you and the notable news your Invest Health city team is creating! |
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