Housing and its connection to health in the United States are beginning to be explored on new levels, and Greensboro is playing a part in that research. Earlier this year, Greensboro joined 50 other cities involved with Invest Health.
Invest Health is an initiative whose self-described goal is 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.
A unique partnership in Greensboro formed around the project, including the Cone Health Foundation, the City of Greensboro, East Street Market Development Corp., the Greensboro Housing Coalition, UNCG and the Triad Healthcare Network. The purpose of the group was to research and contribute to the knowledge base of housing and health on multiple levels.
GRAND RAPIDS — Two teams of nonprofits in Grand Rapids this year received grants from national organizations focused on racial disparity in health outcomes.
In May, a new initiative known as Invest Health announced $3 million in grants, given as $60,000 awards to mid-size cities around the country. In total, 180 teams applied, and 50 were chosen. Grand Rapids was one of four Michigan awardees, along with Flint, Lansing and Pontiac.
Then in August, the Office of Minority Health (OMH) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services awarded a grant of $1.78 million to Arbor Circle. The grant, spread over five years in $356,000 annual increments, is part of the OMH’s new Re-Entry Community Linkages (RE-LINK) program, focused on improving health outcomes for young men of color transitioning from jail back into a community.
Some great news for people in southwest Lansing.
The city announced it’s getting a grant to help provide better jobs, food, and housing for the Pleasant Grove Holmes area.
The $60,000 grant will be used to turn the old school into a hub for community services.
Invest Health will use it to work with people and groups to find ways to build more affordable housing, reduce crime, and eliminate environmental hazards.
A $60,000 grant will be used to help improve the health of residents in southwest Lansing. The money was donated from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Reinvestment Fund to Invest Health, a partnership that includes Lansing, the Ingham County Health Department, Lansing School District, Lansing Area Economic Partnership and Sparrow Health System.
Nampa received a $60,000 grant earlier this year from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Reinvestment Fund to start the Invest Health Initiative to address health-related disparities in north-central Nampa. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation is the largest health philanthropy in the U.S., and collectively the foundation and the development-oriented Reinvestment Fund have invested $1 billion to low-income communities over the past 30 years, Nelson said.