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March 2017

ReFresh and Colorado Enterprise Fund

Overview

The goal of Reinvestment Fund’s ReFresh initiative is to increase the capacity of the community development financial institution (CDFI) industry to fund healthy food projects by creating tools and resources, offering technical assistance, and helping peer organizations learn together. ReFresh has been an important partner as Colorado Enterprise Fund (CEF), headquartered in Denver, Colorado, has grown its portfolio of healthy food lending. In 2016, Reinvestment Fund and CEF collaborated to take a closer look at some of the ways that ReFresh has helped CEF grow its food lending capacity.

December 2013

Meaningful Community Engagement for Health and Equity

Overview

This guide, part of the A Practitioner's Guide for Advancing Health Equity tool developed by the Center for Disease Control, offers best practies for a facilitating meaningful community engagement process.

April 2017

Transportation Matters: Closing the Chasm between Housing and Transportation to Foster Communities of Opportunity for All

Overview

"Transportation Matters: Closing the Chasm between Housing and Transportation to Foster Communities of Opportunity for All," by PolicyLink staff member Anita Cozart, appears in the American Bar Association’s Journal of Affordable Housing and Community Development Law, volume 25, issue no. 2, © 2017 American Bar Association. It examines the "chasm" that exists between the two sectors and what can be done to break down the barriers and create benefits and opportunities for all. Please note: This information or any portion thereof may not be copied or disseminated in any form or by any means or downloaded or stored in an electronic database or retrieval system without the express written consent of the American Bar Association.

My HFFI Story

Cross-posted from the Healthy Food Access Portal

Celebrating stories of community action, impact, and hope through images captured by Healthy Food Financing Initiative grantees working to foster access to healthy food, good jobs, and opportunities to thrive.

Six years ago, PolicyLink, Reinvestment Fund, and The Food Trust worked in partnership with community and public stakeholders to craft a federal response to address the inequitable access to healthy food in rural and urban communities. The effort resulted in the launch of the federal Healthy Food Financing Initiative (HFFI) program in 2011 by the Departments of Treasury (through the CDFI Fund), Agriculture, and Health and Human Services.

In just five years, the HFFI program distributed over 100 awards in over 30 states to support projects that are improving healthy food access in communities across the country. Throughout the year, the Healthy Food Access Portal has shared success stories of healthy food access projects. To celebrate this important milestone in the movement to improve food access, grantees were invited to share their own stories of their HFFI projects in action, through both photography and video.

My HFFI Story features the inspiring work of 15 HFFI grantees who are responding with action, engagement, collaboration, and innovation to ensure all communities have access to healthy, affordable, and culturally appropriate food. Read, view, and watch their stories here: https://equityis.exposure.co/my-hffi-story

Read the full blog post > > >

Race, Place, and Jobs: Reducing Employment Inequality in America’s Metros

Originally posted on Spotlight on Poverty and Opportunity

In Pittsburgh, a wave of baby boomer retirements is expected to leave the region with 80,000 more job openings than workers to fill them over the next decade. At the same time, 32,000 of the region’s workers are long-term unemployed, and unemployment is highest among black, mixed race, and Latino workers.

How to connect unemployed and under-employed workers of color to jobs in growing industries and industries with retiring baby boomers is a key question for Pittsburgh, but the region is far from alone. The Georgetown Center for Education and the Workforce estimates that that by 2020 there will be 5 million more job openings in America than there are workers with the requisite skills to fill them. Yet, workers of color, particularly black workers, continue to face high levels of unemployment and inadequate access to relevant education and skills training.

Addressing continued unemployment for black workers and other workers of color is critical to families, employers, and the U.S. economy as a whole. The question is: how do we most effectively do that?

Read More>>>

Perspectives of Urban Corner Store Owners and Managers on Community Health Problems and Solutions

Overview

Urban corner store interventions have been implemented to improve access to and promote purchase of healthy foods. However, the perspectives of store owners and managers, who deliver and shape these interventions in collaboration with nonprofit, government, and academic partners, have been largely overlooked. We sought to explore the views of store owners and managers on the role of their stores in the community and their beliefs about health problems and solutions in the community.

October 2016

Healthy Communities of Opportunity: An Equity Blueprint to Address America’s Housing Challenges

Overview

From San Francisco, California to Flint, Michigan, the nation is facing an escalating housing crisis. Skyrocketing rents, inadequate infrastructure and stagnant wages are some of the barriers that are preventing millions of low-income Americans and communities of color from reaching their full potential. Healthy Communities of Opportunity: An Equity Blueprint to Address America’s Housing Challenges weaves together insights from the fields of healthcare, housing and economic security to outline a case for progressive, equity-focused policy.

"Healthy Communities of Opportunity provides an actionable roadmap to solve the interwoven housing and health crises that impact many people. This thorough review of the housing crisis from PolicyLink and their cross-sector approach to the solutions is a significant contribution to addressing the problem."
David Fukuzawa
Managing Director, The Kresge Foundation’s Health and Human Services programs

 

For low-income people of color, where you live not only determines access to education and employment but how long you live and how well you live. This new report from PolicyLink and the Kresge Foundation puts forth an action agenda to create far greater access to vibrant, healthy communities of opportunity.
Angela Glover Blackwell
PolicyLink President and CEO

Food and Nutrition: Hard Truths about Eating Healthy

Overview

The seventh and final report in the “City Voices: New Yorkers on Health” series, “Food and Nutrition: Hard Truths about Eating Healthy” shows that while food stamps and food pantries are critical resources, they are falling short when it comes to helping low-income New Yorkers maintain healthy eating habits. The report is the result of surveys and focus groups conducted in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx, with residents representing more than 10 ethnic and cultural groups talking about the issues that have the greatest impact on their overall health and wellbeing. Community health advocates also express their views in a report that explores food insecurity and the ways that cultural differences may impact healthy eating habits.

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