Dear Invest Health city team members and friends,
I had the pleasure of attending the most recent collaboration trip to Rhode Island with four Invest Health teams to examine how the Rhode Island Department of Public Health is building a state-wide, equity-driven program, Health Equity Zones. The resident-centric approach resonated and energized the Invest Health teams from Grand Rapids, Tallahassee, Richmond, and Missoula. Although building trust and collaboration between the state health department and partners required commitment and compromise, they were successful in forging strong partnerships with grassroots organizations who could serve their communities most effectively.
In this month's featured blog, originally published in the Saporta Report, Reinvestment Fund collaborates with Capital Impact Partners and Low Income Investment Fund (LIIF), with support from Wells Fargo, to launch Growing Diverse Housing Developers (GDHD), an initiative focused on supporting and expanding the work of development firms led by people of color. Through this capital provider partnership, we'll support diverse developers and push towards systems change that address inequities and in the development ecosystem.
Lastly, we encourage you to make your voices heard by submitting a comment letter on the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) modernization proposal (period closes this Friday, 8/5). The notice of proposed rulemaking contains the biggest changes to the CRA in decades, and will have an impact on the health and wellbeing of low and moderate income communities. Let us know how to best support you!
In partnership,
Jennifer Fassbender and the Invest Health Program Team |
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OPPORTUNITIES
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(August 5th Deadline) Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) Proposed Rulemaking Comments
[Public Comment]
 The Community Reinvestment Act was passed in 1977 to end the discriminatory practice of redlining and racialized patterns of disinvestment. The regulations requires that banks serve the needs of all communities, especially low- and moderate-income communities. On May 5th, federal regulators released a historic notice of proposed rulemaking and the period for public comment is open until August 5th. The National Community Reinvestment Coalition's analysis of the proposed rulemaking can be found here. Do you have a letter that would benefit from Reinvestment Fund's signature? Do you have sentiments or comments that Reinvestment Fund should consider in our letter? Share your thoughts here, we appreciate your time and dedication to modernizing and strengthening the CRA.
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2022 Housing Solutions Lab Workshop
[Call for Application]
The Housing Solutions Workshop is a three-week intensive virtual program of seminars, strategic consultation, and team-building created by NYU Furman Center’s Housing Solutions Lab, Abt Associates, and the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy. The Workshop aims to help small and midsize cities and counties—those with populations between 50,000 and 500,000—as they develop and implement comprehensive housing strategies to better meet their affordability and other housing challenges. Find more information and the application here.
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(August 11) Make a PACT to Advance Health Equity: Policy, Action, Community and Technology
[Webinar]
Join Modern Healthcare’s Social Determinants of Health Symposium, a virtual event taking place August 11, to learn how investments in the  areas of policy, action, community, and technology can ultimately help you evolve your social determinants of health initiatives to achieve health equity and a healthier bottom line. The full-day agenda features sessions where healthcare thought leaders will explore holistic approaches to improving community health for vulnerable populations, including through social and economic interventions. Register here!
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(August 10) How Financing Has Evolved for Community-Controlled Real Estate
[Webinar]
Community land trusts, or other forms of community-owned and controlled real estate, continue to make incremental progress across the country. The model has also moved beyond housing or agriculture in acquiring larger, more complicated commercial and cultural projects. On August 10, at 1 p.m. Eastern, join Next City's Senior Economics Correspondent Oscar Perry Abello in conversation with Devin Culbertson, VP of Innovative Finance at Grounded Solutions to learn more. Register here!
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RESOURCES
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Blog: Growing Diverse Housing Developers
 Affordable housing development firms led by people of color – both nonprofit and for-profit – are underrepresented in the housing industry, yet are a critical resource for strengthening the housing development ecosystem. To combat this issue, Wells Fargo partnered with three CDFIs (Reinvestment Fund, Capital Impact Partners, and Low Income Investment Fund) to launch Growing Diverse Housing Developers (GDHD). Flexible and patient capital, a strengthened balance sheet, and increased access to industry connections and resources will help experienced development firms led by people of color to grow their capacity and expand their affordable housing production into the future. Read more about the initiative here.
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President Biden Announces Executive Actions on Climate
Last week the Biden- Harris Administration issued new executive actions to combat the growing climate crisis including $2.3 billion in funding to the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) program. This funding will help communities increase resilience to heat waves, drought, wildfires, flood, hurricanes, and other hazards with priority given to communities that have been marginalized, overburdened and underserved. Read the White House statement here.
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Health, Hospitals, and Affordable Housing
The Rutgers Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy has released a report by studio students including previous Invest Health intern, Tristan Gibson. This report details the nexus of health and housing and the role that the health care system can play. Read the full report here.
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Why Community Power is Fundamental to Advancing Racial and Health Equity
Authors of a new  National Academy of Medicine (NAM) Perspectives discussion paper examine how community power-building ecosystems work in practice, showcasing examples of state and local power-building organizations and campaigns nationwide. By highlighting examples from the field, authors offer key concepts and tensions that can inform the multidisciplinary study and multisector collaborative practice of building, sustaining, and strengthening community power. Read more about how closing the gap between scholarship and practice in building community power can advance health equity for all.
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Toolkits, Not Triage: How SPARCC Adapted Capital Practices to Support Community-Led Projects
Strong, Prosperous, and Resilient Communities Challenge (SPARCC) national team members authored this piece on 'Toolkits, not Triage: How SPARCC adapted capital practices to support community-led projects,' describing efforts to challenge their biases and how CDFIs have traditionally approached financing through a frame of White dominant culture, and the steps taken to increase investments in community-centered projects. Read the article here.
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How Banks Can Create Lending Programs Targeting Black or Women Borrowers
Since 1993, California-based Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) Union Bank has been using special purpose credit programs to provide small business loans that account for the structural bias at the foundation of borrowing systems like credit scores. This system has provided  a model for other financial institutions, while further validating that making loans to women or people of color using more flexible criteria doesn’t actually lead to a higher rate of loan default. Read more about the program here. |
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NLIHC Releases Advocacy Toolkit for August Recess
NLIHC has released a comprehensive advocacy toolkit d esigned to guide homelessness and housing advocates and direct service providers in advocacy efforts during the August congressional recess. The toolkit offers information about how to host site visits and in-district meetings with members of Congress and provides ideas about ways to advocate for evidence-based homelessness solutions like Housing First. Access the toolkit here.
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Rhode Island Dedicates 23% of ARPA Funds to Affordable Housing and Homeless Assistance, Passes 10 Bills to Address Housing Crisis
Rhode Island has dedicated $221 million of the $1.1 billion in “American Rescue Plan Act” (ARPA) State Fiscal Recovery funds it received toward affordable housing and homelessness prevention in its fiscal year FY 2023 budget, bringing Rhode Island’s total investment to $250 million, or nearly one-quarter of the state’s ARPA allocation. Governor Daniel McKee signed the FY23 budget into law in June, along with 10 other bills meant to address the state’s housing crisis. Read the article here.
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The Conservation Law Foundation: HealthScore Metrics
The  Conservation Law Foundation produced this HealthScore explainer to communicate about the importance of measuring and tracking the impact of real estate development on community health and sustainability, and to make its project investment screening tool more understandable and usable by a range of stakeholders. Access the report here.
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Toolkit for Everyone Aligning and Measuring (TEAM)
The Aligning Systems for Health project was created in part to help collaboratives move past short-term initiatives and toward long-term systems changes that improve community well-being in sustainable ways. The Toolkit for Everyone Aligning and Measuring, or TEAM for short, is designed to help people think about measurement in the context of health collaboratives and aligning efforts across sectors. Check out the toolkit here.
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CITY TEAM NEWS
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New Britain, CT: East Side Community Center - Hub of Revitalization
 The YWCA East Side Community Center serves as a continued hub of revitalization on the East Side of New Britain, CT. Programs are focused on the education and empowerment of teens, and include mental health services and civic engagement. The YWCA was able to leverage Invest Health funding to pilot a Youth Community Health Worker (CHW) Training Academy with partner South Western Area Health Education Council. The program began in 2021 and has since enrolled 15 students, all women of color, who reside in New Britain CT and are interested in careers in Public Health, Social Work, Public Policy, or within the medical field. Students are guided by a CHW Intern Supervisor and complete 1,000 hours of fieldwork activities that promote vaccine equity, health equity, and resident engagement.
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Roanoke, Virginia: NW Food Access Initiative
The Invest Health Roanoke team continues their pursuit of developing a hub of resources, inclusive of grocery retail, to support the Melrose-Orange neighborhood. They have received $10.5 million in ARPA funds and secured a non-profit developer and development site. Following a two-year intensive community engagement effort, which resulted in resident informed renderings and a real estate plan, this is a major step forward for Roanoke!
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Collaboration Grant Activity Update: Health Equity Zones
 Invest Health teams from Grand Rapids, Tallahassee, Missoula, and Richmond gathered in July in Rhode Island to learn about the Rhode Island Department of Health's (RIDOH's) Health Equity Zones (HEZ) Initiative. Through site visits to the Newport and Providence HEZs, and presentations by RIDOH and its grassroots partner organizations, the teams learned how Rhode Island is working toward its health and racial equity mission through a resident-centered infrastructure. Throughout the two-day event, Invest Health teams reflected and brainstormed how pieces of this model could fit into their own communities. Learn how to create a HEZ in your community here.
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Keep Sharing Updates
Keep sharing updates on your work, including special events and news media pieces to us by emailing info@investhealth.org. We look forward to hearing from you and the notable news your Invest Health city team is creating! |
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