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THRIVE FROM THE START

Every infant and toddler deserves a safe, stable, and nurturing start in life. That’s why Housing Is has joined forces with  Prevent Child Abuse America, SchoolHouse Connection, and ZERO TO THREE to launch Thrive From The Start—a cross-sector effort dedicated to addressing homelessness among infants, toddlers, and expectant parents. Visit thrivefromthestart.org to learn more and explore how you can be a part of the solution. 

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Housing Is Working Group 2024-2025 Calendar

Join the Housing Is Working Group to discuss special topics related to cross-sector initiatives and programmatic considerations particularly focused on the intersections of housing, health, and education.

This year’s public webinars cover topics such as child welfare and housing, leveraging Medicaid resources for housing services, out-of-school time, and digital connectivity in a post-ACP world. 

View Calendar
 
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Communications
Community:
Apr 3, 2023
ASTHO comes to our health agencies and partners saddened by our country's recent mass shooting. We mourn the losses of life from firearm violence as our families, schools, and communities continue to be impacted. ASTHO supports you now more than ever. The epidemic of firearm-related injury and death in the United States has become a critical public health and safety concern that affects everyone.

Authored by: Caitlin Langhorne & Tanya Baker for ASTHO
Topics: Community development, Criminal justice, Health, Mental health, Research
Shared by Sandra Ware on May 25, 2023
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Case study
Community:
Oct 25, 2022
According to UN-Habitat, the world needs to build 96,000 affordable homes every day to address the global housing crisis by 2030. Yet, better utilizing existing housing stock—through options such as shared housing—can make a significant dent in the need to build more housing. With college students often challenged to find affordable housing and many older adults living alone in homes with spare bedrooms, these two groups are increasingly benefitting from living together. Universities are often well-suited to facilitate students living and learning with older adults in nearby communities. Intentionally fostering intergenerational engagement through places and programs can reduce loneliness, mitigate ageist stereotypes, and help both groups to thrive.

Authored by: Stephanie Firestone and Julia Glassman for AARP Equity by Design
Topics: Community development, dual-generation initiative, Funding, Health, Homelessness, Housing, Mental health, Seniors, Youth
Shared by Sandra Ware on Oct 25, 2022

Principles in Action Universities as Age Friendly Partners

Case study
Oct 25, 2022
Stephanie Firestone and Julia Glassman for AARP Equity by Design
According to UN-Habitat, the world needs to build 96,000 affordable homes every day to address the global housing crisis by 2030. Yet, better utilizing existing housing stock—through options such as shared housing—can make a significant dent in the need to build more housing.
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Report
Community: Seniors
Dec 3, 2020
During the COVID-19 pandemic, service coordinators played a pivotal role in the support of older adult residents of publicly funded housing properties. Some independent housing operators employ service coordinators to increase residents’ self-sufficiency, physical security, social connections, and the delivery of long-term community-based supportive services. This report presents results from a survey conducted between June 23 and July 17, 2020 to explore the experiences of these service coordinators during the early months of COVID-19. At the time of the survey, about one-third of respondents were aware of at least one resident on the property who had tested positive for COVID-19. The survey revealed the pandemic’s impact on the lives of older residents of publicly funded housing. Professional support systems that typically provided personal assistance and medical care were interrupted, threatening residents’ physical and mental health. Transportation and resource acquisition systems were also unsettled, creating barriers to activities of independent living such as shopping to acquire food and medication. Social challenges were particularly acute during the early months of the pandemic. Residents demonstrated signs of anxiety and loneliness as their typical experiences of community life were muted. And, while health guidelines and novel benefit programs emerged at a steady clip, communication systems had to be modified from largely in-person formats to accommodate a population of older adults without consistent access to technological platforms.

Authored by: Samara Scheckler for THE JOINT CENTER FOR HOUSING STUDIES OF HARVARD UNIVERSITY
Topics: Community development, Housing, Mental health, Seniors
Shared by Housing Is on Dec 3, 2020

For Older Adults in Publicly Funded Housing During the Pandemic, Service Coordinators Help Build Resilience

Report
Dec 3, 2020
Samara Scheckler for THE JOINT CENTER FOR HOUSING STUDIES OF HARVARD UNIVERSITY
During the COVID-19 pandemic, service coordinators played a pivotal role in the support of older adult residents of publicly funded housing properties.
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Research
Community:
Jul 21, 2018
A new study measured the mental health of Philadelphia residents before and after blighted lots had been converted into green spaces.

Authored by: Melissa Breyer for treehugger
Topics: Community development, Health, Mental health, Place-based, Research
Shared by Housing Is on Mar 11, 2019
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Research
Community:
Feb 6, 2019
Research suggests that living in concentrated poverty is harmful to health, well-being, and economic mobility. Inclusionary zoning can break up poverty density by imposing legal requirements to create affordable housing across neighborhoods. In Montgomery County, Maryland, inclusionary zoning laws require developers to set aside 12 to 15 percent of new homes at below-market rates and allow the public housing authority to purchase a portion of these units. As a result, two-thirds of public housing residents in Montgomery County live in economically diverse, low-poverty neighborhoods. To assess the effects of these unique conditions, researchers explored how public housing residents’ social networks, neighborhood perceptions, and health outcomes differ based on their placement in mixed-income communities or traditionally clustered public housing.

Authored by: Heather Schwartz, Susan Burkhauser, Beth Ann Griffin, David Kennedy, Harold Green Jr., Alene Kennedy-Hendricks, and Craig Pollack for Housing Policy Debate, How Housing Matters
Topics: Community development, Housing, Mental health, Place-based, Research
Shared by Housing Is on Feb 7, 2019

Inclusionary Zoning Can Improve Outcomes for Public Housing Residents

Research
Feb 6, 2019
Heather Schwartz, Susan Burkhauser, Beth Ann Griffin, David Kennedy, Harold Green Jr., Alene Kennedy-Hendricks, and Craig Pollack for Housing Policy Debate, How Housing Matters
Research suggests that living in concentrated poverty is harmful to health, well-being, and economic mobility. Inclusionary zoning can break up poverty density by imposing legal requirements to create affordable housing across neighborhoods.
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News Article
Community:
Jan 10, 2019
Island School is one of 247 “community schools” in New York. These are regular public schools, with a twist. They have longer days and longer school years: Island stays open 12 hours a day, six days a week, including spring and winter breaks as well as the summer. A psychologist makes weekly rounds. A dentist comes by regularly. So does an optometrist, and students who need glasses get them free.

Authored by: David L. Kirk for The New York Times
Topics: Community development, Dual-generation, East Coast, Education, Family engagement, Homelessness, Housing, Low-income, Mental health, Metrics, Partnerships, Stability, Youth
Shared by Mica O'Brien on Jan 10, 2019
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Report
Community:
Oct 24, 2018
CLPHA’s Housing Is Initiative is engaged in a number of cross-sector activities focused on developing partnerships, facilitating a community of practice, resource development, promoting best practices, online collaboration, policy and advocacy, and training and education. Read about recent activities in this Fall Update.

Authored by:
Topics: Child welfare, CLPHA, Community development, Cost effectiveness, Data sharing, Early childhood, Education, Family engagement, Funding, Health, Homelessness, Housing, Low-income, Medicaid / Medicare, Mental health, Partnerships, Place-based, Post-secondary, Research, Stability, Substance abuse, Workforce development, Youth
Shared by Mica O'Brien on Oct 24, 2018

Housing Is Fall 2018 Update

Report
Oct 24, 2018
CLPHA’s Housing Is Initiative is engaged in a number of cross-sector activities focused on developing partnerships, facilitating a community of practice, resource development, promoting best practices, online collaboration, policy and advocacy, and training and education.
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Research
Community:
Aug 1, 2018
We examined the impact of long-term (6 months or more) vacant housing and various durations of vacancy on a variety of health outcomes at the neighborhood level across three types of U.S. metropolitan areas (metros): (1) those that have experienced consistently strong growth, (2) those that have undergone weak growth, and (3) those hit hardest by the foreclosure crisis

Authored by:
Topics: Asset building, Asthma, Community development, Health, Housing, Low-income, Mental health, Metrics, Research, Safety, Transportation
Shared by Housing Is on Aug 1, 2018
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Policy Brief
Community:
Jul 17, 2018
The Denver Social Impact Bond program is an initiative aimed at measurably improving the lives of people most in need by driving resources towards better, more effective programs. Social Impact Bonds are a unique type of performance-based contract where private and/or philanthropic lenders loan funds to accomplish a specific objective and are repaid based on whether the program achieves its goals. Denver’s Social Impact Bond program will use funds from lenders to provide housing and supportive case management services to at least 250 homeless individuals who frequently use the city’s emergency services, including police, jail, the courts and emergency rooms.

Authored by:
Topics: Community development, Cost effectiveness, Criminal justice, Health, Homelessness, Housing, Low-income, Mental health, Partnerships, Stability, Substance abuse, West Coast
Shared by Housing Is on Jul 17, 2018
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Case study
Community:
Jul 17, 2018
The South Lincoln Health Impact Assessment (HIA) focuses on the redevelopment master plan for the Denver Housing Authority’s South Lincoln Homes community in downtown Denver. The rapid HIA and masterplan was a four-month process that began in April 2009. The HIA identifies potential health impacts and recommends changes to optimize positive and minimize negative health consequences for the South Lincoln neighborhood. This assessment includes community demographic and socioeconomic information, identified potential health issues, interviews available surveys, and limited body measurement data along with supportive evidence-based research and recommendations that informed the HIA and masterplan design.

Authored by:
Topics: Child welfare, Community development, Disabilities, Dual-generation, Health, Housing, Low-income, Mental health, Metrics, Nutrition, Preventative care, Research, Safety
Shared by Housing Is on Jul 17, 2018
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Case study
Community:
Jul 12, 2018
The Trauma Informed Community Building (TICB) model is based on BRIDGE Housing Corporation’s experience doing community building work over the past five years in the Potrero Terrace and Annex public housing sites in San Francisco, CA.

Authored by:
Topics: Child welfare, Community development, Dual-generation, Family engagement, Low-income, Mental health, Partnerships, Place-based, Preventative care, Research, Safety
Shared by Housing Is on Jul 12, 2018

Best and Promising Practices: Trauma Informed Community Building - A model for Strengthening Communities in Trauma Affected Neighborhoods

Case study
Jul 12, 2018
The Trauma Informed Community Building (TICB) model is based on BRIDGE Housing Corporation’s experience doing community building work over the past five years in the Potrero Terrace and Annex public housing sites in San Francisco, CA.
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Webinar
Community:
Feb 21, 2018
Presentation from CLPHA's February 2018 Health Strategic Planning Workshop, co-facilitated with Health Impact Project and Grantmakers in Health

Authored by: CLPHA, Health Impact Project (Pew/RWJF), and Grantmakers in Health
Topics: Affordable Care Act, CLPHA, Community development, Data sharing, Health, Healthy homes, Homelessness, Housing, Medicaid / Medicare, Mental health, Obesity, Partnerships, Place-based, Research, Supportive housing, TA
Shared by Steve Lucas on Feb 27, 2018

CLPHA Health Strategic Planning Workshop Presentation

The 2018 CLPHA Health Strategic Planning Workshop, co-facilitated with Health Impact Project (a collaboration of Pew Charitable Trusts and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation) and Grantmakers in Health, convened over 35 communities across the country. Participating teams included internal PHA staff at member agencies who work on health-related initiatives as well as external partners that provide services, education, and other health resources for residents.

Webinar
Feb 21, 2018
CLPHA, Health Impact Project (Pew/RWJF), and Grantmakers in Health
Presentation from CLPHA's February 2018 Health Strategic Planning Workshop, co-facilitated with Health Impact Project and Grantmakers in Health