Search form

Example #1: Building a Better Future for Liberty City

Carrfour Supportive Housing is expanding efforts to redevelop the Liberty City neighborhood in Miami. Together with its partners, Carrfour is revitalizating one of the largest public housing developments in Miami-Dade County with high-quality, mixed-income housing, creating a cradle-to-college education pipeline, and increasing opportunities for health and physical activity in the neighborhood.

For more than two decades, Carrfour has developed affordable housing with a comprehensive array of on-site services for low-income individuals and families across the Miami region. Through Partners in Progress, Carrfour is bringing together local government leaders, residents, business owners, housing developers, and community organizations to redevelop the Liberty City neighborhood and improve the health care and education in the community. Carrfour is engaging community members in each step of the revitalization process and working with them to address pressing community challenges.

 

Example #2: Rolling Hills Apartments: Weaving Together Opportunities for Healthier Lives for a Diverse Immigrant Community

Photo of Rolling Hills Apartments

Twin Cities LISC, a local community development financial institution, has partnered with local organizations and city agencies to create quality affordable housing with improved healthcare access, including constructing a Federally Qualified Health Center. LISC also employed community health advocates to weave together the isolated health-related efforts in the neighborhood of focus into a cohesive health agenda. More specifically, they connect and help support existing efforts, identify and help address gaps, and facilitate the conversations and activities that sustain collaboration.

Learn how social determinants of health are being addressed to build healthier lives for immigrants in St. Paul, Minnesota in this Community Close-Up from the Building Healthy Places Network.

Contributed by Lia Thompson, University of Kansas, Community Tool Box Intern.

 

Example #3: Community Development 2.0—Collective Impact Focuses a Neighborhood Strategy for Health

The East Bay Asian Local Development Corporation (EBALDC) has built health into its strategic plan, and in the neighborhood revitalization work of The San Pablo Collaborative (SPARC), convened by EBALDC, health is the first priority. The San Pablo Area Revitalization Corridor neighborhood that stretches between downtown Oakland and Emeryville is considered to be one of the poorest and most disadvantaged areas of Oakland, California. Life expectancy in this area is up to 20 years lower than the neighboring area, Oakland Hills. SPARC works tirelessly to address the physical, social and economic factors-“social determinants”- that shape residents’ health in the San Pablo Avenue Corridor. SPARC partners work collectively in order to create an overall healthier environment for residents throughout the neighborhood. The California Hotel has been successfully preserved as affordable housing and a grocery store has been brought to this long abandoned neighborhood.

Learn how social determinants of health are being addressed to build healthier lives for the most disadvantaged areas of Oakland, California in this Community Close-Up from the Building Healthy Places Network.

Contributed by Lia Thompson, University of Kansas, Community Tool Box Intern.

 

Example #4: Under One Roof: Health Care and Social Services in the Same Place

The Chicanos Por La Causa (CPLC) is the largest community development corporation based in Arizona. CPLC is committed to building stronger, healthier communities as a lead advocate, coalition builder, and direct service provider. CPLC helps more than 200,000 people through programs in four areas–housing, economic development, education, and health and human services. CPLC recognizes that the needs of the families it serves are complex as a family rarely approaches the CDC with only one need. As a result, CPLC sought to establish cross-sector partnerships that would more effectively and holistically meet the needs of families.

Read more about CPLC on Rooflines - The Shelterforce Blog, from the National Housing Institute.

Contributed by Lia Thompson, University of Kansas, Community Tool Box Intern.

 

Example #5: Supporting Childhood Wellness Through Healthy, Affordable Housing

In a low-income Philadelphia community, for-profit and non-profit developers have partnered to create Paseo Verde, a high-quality housing development highlighting resident and community health. The development prides itself on making healthy housing accessible even for families in poverty. This one-, two-, and three-bedroom apartment complex, Paseo Verde, supports children’s health through its environmentally sustainable design, on-site health center and pharmacy, resident service programs, and social service programs.

Read more in the profile from How Housing Matters.

Contributed by Lia Thompson, University of Kansas, Community Tool Box Intern.

 

Example #6: Communities Driving Health Equity - PUSH Buffalo

PUSH Buffalo (People United for Sustainable Housing) is an organization working to make housing safe, affordable, and energy-efficient for residents of West Buffalo, NY. This spotlight video shows how PUSH Buffalo assists residents in obtaining federal and state grants to revitalize their homes, which are often harmful to live in due to the presence of toxins like mold and lead. PUSH Buffalo listens to and partners with residents, allowing them to make decisions and returning power and agency to their hands as they repair their homes.

 

Example #7: A RADical Way to Preserve Affordable Housing in San Francisco

A rendering of the new Ping Yuen Community Center to be built for a complex comprising 234 units, which to date has had no public gathering space for residents. A capital campaign is underway to fund the center's construction.

A rendering of the new Ping Yuen Community Center to be built for a complex comprising 234 units, which to date has had no public gathering space for residents. A capital campaign is underway to fund the center's construction.

 

In order to preserve a major portion of its decaying public housing stock, the City of San Francisco is using HUD’s Rental Assistance Demonstration program to convert thousands of homes to non-profit ownership. LISC has helped guide the rehabilitation of these neglected units, with community developers and residents leading the way.

 

Example #8: Anti-Racism Sparks Movement for Trauma-Informed Design

Image of Arroyo Village apartment complex.

Arroyo Village is a supportive housing complex in Denver designed for those with traumatic histories. The apartments are soundproofed by design, along with other design elements to promote healing. The growing awareness of the impact of the built environment on our health is one reason for the growth of trauma-informed design — design that includes adaptations to support a strengths-based framework based in an understanding of, and responsiveness to, the impact of trauma. Read more.