Buffalo is one of 50 mid-sized cities selected for a national program that brings together leaders from the economic-development, academic and medical sectors to try to improve health in low-income neighborhoods.
The Reinvestment Fund and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation selected Buffalo and 49 other cities, including Rochester and Syracuse, from more than 180 teams from 170 communities that applied to the Invest Health program.
Invest Health is open to cities with populations between 50,000 and 400,000 and is meant to find sustainable, multidisciplinary solutions to the chronic causes of poor health in those communities.
In Buffalo, the five-member team that will participate in the program includes representatives from the City of Buffalo, Erie County Medical Center, the Buffalo Urban Development Corporation, the University at Buffalo and the P2 Collaborative of Western New York.
The program brings with it a small, undisclosed amount of funding to pay for travel to conferences to highlight best practices in other cities, said John Craik, P2’s executive director.
Invest Health is meant to bring a focus on access to affordable housing, places where adults can exercise and children can play, nutritious food, good-paying jobs and other non-medical factors that can drive good health in a community.
In Buffalo, as one example, the Invest Health team will work together to create a self-sustaining, long-lasting food-hub business where produce can be grown and sold nearby, Craik said, creating jobs in the process.
The City of Bloomington will be part of a new, nation-wide health initiative.
Bloomington is one of 50 cities chosen for a $60,000 Invest Health grant.
The money will be used over the next 18 months to help city leaders improve health outcomes in under-served and low-income areas.
Nampa may improve pedestrian and biking transportation and perhaps even build an open air food market with a grant it will be receiving.
These project ideas are part of the new “Invest Health” initiative Nampa is now apart of, which will work to address health-related disparities among individuals who are living in low income areas. City officials and local partners will take part in learning activities with mentors, and the city will receive a $60,000 grant.
Iowa City, the University of Iowa and some local community developers will participate in Invest Health.
The nation-wide program, in which leaders from mid-sized U.S. cities aid low-income communities,improves health through access to affordable housing, places to play and exercise and good jobs.
The city of Eau Claire has been chosen to receive a $60,000 Invest Health grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Reinvestment Fund to address poverty and improve long-term health. Eau Claire is the only city in Wisconsin to receive this grant and one of only 50 nationwide.
The city of Missoula has been selected as one of 50 mid-sized cities nationwide to receive a $60,000 grant to study the conditions that lead to asthma, obesity and mental health issues in its three lowest-income neighborhoods.
The funding to take part in the new Invest Health initiative comes from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the nation’s largest health philanthropy group, and the Reinvestment Fund, a community development financial institution based in Philadelphia.
Reinvestment Fund and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) today announced $3 million in awards across 50 mid-size cities in 31 states for Invest Health, an initiative aimed at transforming how city leaders work together to help low-income communities thrive, with specific attention to community features that improve health.
The city of Kansas City, Kan., has been selected by Reinvestment Fund and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to take part in the new Invest Health initiative.
Youngstown was selected to be one of 50 mid-sized cities to receive funding to for a “Invest Health” initiative to improve the health of those living in low-income communities.
U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) today announced that the City of Akron and the City of Canton, respectively, were selected to participate in the new “Invest Health” initiative, a collaborative program launched by Reinvestment Fund and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Invest Health targets mid-sized cities with populations between 50,000 and 400,000 to help develop new strategies to improve health outcomes, remove barriers to care, and leverage private-public investments in health.