People and Places Conference Part III: Health and Housing

This is Part III of a series by Staff Blogger Amy Schaftlein, Director of Development + Communications at United Housing.

Last week I wrote about how Memphis can learn from D.C.'s Housing Production Trust Fund Baseline Funding Act to mitigate population loss and blight in our city. Blight, poor housing stock and vacant properties also pose health threats for many families, and relying on local government funding cannot alleviate all issues associated with unhealthy living situations. This post delves into how Community Development Corporations (CDCs) can partner with the health sector to have a bigger impact in our neighborhoods.

For too many communities and families, zip codes determine health. The People and Places Conference session entitled, "Engaging the Health Sector," asked the question: How can the community development field work with the health sector in a more collaborative way to alleviate ills associated with poor housing, unsafe neighborhood conditions and other neighborhood-based issues that plague American communities? The Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco convened a HealthyCommunities Conference and invited other banks to invest in CDCs working with the health sector to decrease health issues faced by low-income communities and give the banks CRA credit at the same time. 

Shelterforce Panel (photo courtesy of Shelterforce)

Last week, United Housing visited Jackson, Tenn. to join in discussions with the state of Tennessee's Medicaid program, TennCare. TennCare's Money Follows the Person program is a Rebalancing Demonstration Program that focuses on transitioning long-term care systems and institutionalized elderly and disabled into homes in the community. Tennessee saves $41,000 per person they move to care in a community setting and out of a institutional care. TennCare called a Stakeholder Meeting in Jackson to get feedback and input on how Tennessee should spend the saved dollars in the Rebalancing Fund. 

Affordable Housing, potentially development and rehabilitation grants to assist in the purchase and accessible rehab of a home, were among the opportunities proposed. Nonprofit Housing developers will be the targeted agencies to receive this type of funding. Another, a cheaper and quicker solution is a proposed voucher program that will give priority to elderly and disabled folks without the support system to use vouchers to transition into the community - temporarily - for 2-5 years. The group wanted to make sure that the housing developments were coordinated with the Tennessee Housing Development Agency's monitoring capacity. While none of the proposed rebalancing funds are confirmed nor fully defined, it is one step toward a model for healthcare and housing to work together on a larger scale for a healthier future for Tennessee. The amount of funds available are not yet being shared.

United Housing is looking to continue partnerships with other service agencies locally, like Meritan, Inc. and Shelby Residential and Vocational Services (SRVS) to ensure quality, accessible home renovations for their customers transitioning into home care and community-based solutions. As a growing part of our housing development, partnerships with health insurance providers and healthcare agencies will be critical for the future of our housing development work.

Open House at United Housing's Wolf River Bluffs home for SRVS' customer.

Other examples of CDCs working with the health sector from the conference include:

·         Partner with Health Insurance Providers - how we can decrease costs by practicing mold abatement, for example.

o   Add housing needs as part of intake in health clinics

·         Healthy Foods financing with grocers in communities

·         Consult Health Facilities on tax credit opportunities (Do insurance companies have a tax burden that could warrant a Community Investment Tax Credit type incentive program?)

·         Coordination of affordable housing units with health clinics and services. For example, including a mental health liaison in permanent supportive housing units.

·         Look at nonprofit hospitals’ target areas and see where those areas overlap with CDCs' – then create something like ArizonaHealthy Communities

·         Partner with university hospitals

o   For example, APM in Philadelphia partnered with Temple University to inform Sustainable Communities initiative

·         Set up training workshops like Pennsylvania Associationof CDCs did with Jefferson University Hospital and Department of Health and Human Services

It will continue to be important to show how the impact of our work, as CDCs, affects health outcomes in our communities. By showing how our work addresses health disparities, we can more effectively influence policy and attract partners in hospitals and health clinics. It is an exciting time in community development and with the new community benefits obligations many hospitals have due to the Affordable Care Act, it could have as big of an impact on the community development sector as the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) had in the 1970s.