Dear Invest Health city team members and friends,
This year the world has shifted towards pandemic recovery, and 2022 has been a year of transition and change for many of us. We’ve seen a much-needed infusion of federal funding into local spaces through the Inflation Reduction Act and a broader recognition of how the social determinants of health interact with the communities where we work, live and play.
In this context, we are looking to 2023 as an opportunity to lean into the work we’ve all been doing and continue to engage with the 50 Invest Health city teams to build stronger connections within and across cities. Many of you have heard, but we are excited to announce that the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has provided support to allow Reinvestment Fund to extend Invest Health for another two years! Following an initial meeting with city team advisors, planning will accelerate for the late fall 2023 national in-person convening, a 4 th round of collaboration grants in spring of 2024, and ongoing efforts to connect with aligned initiatives and other small to mid-sized cities working to improve their community and economic development investment systems.
 I also want to welcome our new Program Associate, Jacob Kraybill, to our team. With over 10 years of experience working in the nonprofit, campaign, and healthcare sectors, Jacob will be supporting Reinvestment Fund’s implementation of Social Determinants of Health programs, including Invest Health. Previously, Jacob worked to bridge the gaps between the health and community development sectors, developing and launching the Principles for Building Healthy and Prosperous Communities at the Build Healthy Places Network. He worked at the Public Health Institute, as well as Penn Medicine Lancaster General Health as a communications and public relations consultant. Jacob’s professional work is rooted in community service, as an active volunteer. Jacob relocated recently to Philadelphia with his boyfriend, where he loves to bake sourdough bread, swim laps at the YMCA, and plan future camping trips. Welcome Jacob!
As we round the corner towards the New Year – from our program team family to yours, may you have time to rest, reflect, and recover with your family and friends.
In (continued- yay!) partnership,
Jennifer Fassbender and the Invest Health Program Team |
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OPPORTUNITIES
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Join our 2023 City Teams Advisory Group
[Virtual Meetings]
The Invest Health city team advisory group will reconvene on 1/26/23 from 2pm-3pm (EST) to provide input on Invest Health (Connecting the Field) program components. A modest participation stipend (for those that can accept it) will be offered to each advisor.
As mentioned on the November Collaboration learning webinar, one city team member per team that would like to participate should sign up here by Wednesday 12/21.
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An Economy That Works for All: Moving Towards Equitable Growth
[Hybrid Event]
 On Tuesday, January 17, 2023, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York will host a hybrid event centered on achieving equitable growth. Panels will focus on broadband access, small business funding, and natural disasters and resiliency. Registration deadline is January 12, 2023. Register here.
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RESOURCES
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Access Our September Convening Resources
The  Operationalizing Equity-Promoting Policies to Improve the SDoH virtual convening session recordings and resources are now available!
This Invest Health 2-day (September 2022) webinar was developed in partnership with other aligned initiative leaders, many sharing insights during an NPR moderated Fireside Chat. There were so many not-to-miss presentations, so we’re glad to share the recordings and slides.
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A Shared Vision That Advances a Government-Wide Approach To Support Communities
 The Federal Plan for Equitable Long-Term Recovery and Resilience laid out a government-wide approach for federal agencies to cooperatively strengthen the conditions necessary for improving individual and community resilience and well-being nationwide. The plan is based on the Thriving Together Springboard and Vital Conditions for Health Framework developed by partners, including the Wellbeing in the Nation (WIN) Network. Read the plan here.
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NCRC Reviews Comments for Proposed CRA Changes
 The public comment period ended on August 5 for the most significant change to the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) in over two decades. Though only 13% of the comments have been made public, the National Community Reinvestment Coalition is reviewing some of the key trends. In the comments that have been made public, a recurring theme is the desire to see race included in CRA exams.
Other comments encouraged using the data the Dodd-Frank Act that requires financial institutions to collect data on applications for credit from women and minority-owned businesses to assess if banks are treating business owners fairly and to monitor the effectiveness of bank programs targeting disadvantaged populations.. Read the full report here.
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New Data on Racial Disparities in Housing & Homeownership
 The NYU Furman Center’s Housing Solutions Lab recently added several new measures to their Housing Needs Assessment Tool powered by PolicyMap.
The added features focus on disparities in housing, breaking down key indicators by race and ethnicity, showing neighborhood poverty rates for various federally subsidized housing programs, and showing trends in the racial homeownership gap. See some example maps and learn more about the tool here.
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A Typology for Hospitals for Community-Level Actions on Social Determinants of Health (SDoH)
This new tool created with funding from the Commonwealth Fund helps hospitals assess different ways of getting involved with SDoH in their communities. The strategies recognize the impact that hospitals can have on local SDOH as businesses and employers with large operational budgets and investment portfolios. Read the full article in Health Affairs here.
Source: Authors’ own analysis. Health Affairs Forefront, October 11, 2022
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The Grounding Values Study: Exploring the Community Development Sector’s Challenges and Accomplishments
The National Alliance of Community Economic Development Associations and the Urban Institute will release Grounding Values study products through 2023, including reports, fact sheets, policy briefs, and public-use datasets. The study’s first two phases are as follows: Understanding the Financial Health of Community-Based Development Organizations and Survey of CBDOs. Learn more here. |
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WorkForce of the Future Initiative Launches Smart Growth Cities Tool
The Workforce of the Future initiative’s new Smart Growth Cities tool uncovers the industry strategies that are most feasible for economic and workforce strategies that best leverage an area’s underlying capabilities. The tool allows planners to explore the trade-offs that are implied by each industry strategy in terms of economic growth, good job creation, and equitable job creation. Read more about the tool or launch it here.
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Community Commons Creates BIPOC Health Equity Library
Health Equity Libraries on Community Commons build capacity for changemakers to advance equity for a specific priority population by sharing relevant resources. Priority populations are exploration avenues on Community Commons that represent diverse groups, communities, demographics, identities, statuses, and people with lived experiences. They connect users directly with populations of interest, lift up important underserved groups, and help root our work in equity and justice. These libraries are designed to break down silos and support changemakers working to advance equitable well-being by making people-centered content more discoverable on Community Commons. Visit the library here.
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CITY TEAM NEWS
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Root Cause Coalition Annual SDoH Summit
 Debra Oto-Kent, Executive Director, Health Education Council (Roseville, CA), presented a poster at the October summit reflecting on the summer of collaboration grant activities. It was during one of the collaboration trips to Roseville, CA, that the team learned of a major city investment in their city park that had been a focus for the Roseville team since the beginning of the Invest Health work. The team was proud that the initial Invest Health grant helped to catalyze a much larger planned investment by the city.
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Building an Equitable Community in Missoula, Montana
 During October 27-28, Missoula hosted the inaugural “Be the Change: Resilience Through Equity” summit that brought together a wide range of organizations, city and county offices, neighborhoods, health and education leaders, and other groups. This powerful gathering of community explored how the SDoH provides a framework for building a more cohesive and holistic community approach to justice, equity, diversity and inclusion (JEDI) for all. Lisa Beczkiewicz, Health Promotion Supervisor, Missoula City-County Health Department organized the event, building on a collaboration grant trip to Seattle, WA, to meet with King and Bellevue Counties, facilitated by Be Culture.
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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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