The dual benefits of community ownership mean better health for residents and patients. As an undocumented immigrant growing up on Chicago’s West Side, Jeisson Apolo and his mother were at the mercy of their landlord. “He saw the fear in our eyes and took advantage of it,” Jeisson said. …

Efforts to address trauma are finally being democratized For many of us, the global lockdowns stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic have made our homes places of respite, healing, and renewal. But for many others, including the unhoused, “home” is not always healing and can in fact be just the opposite. …

It’s Not Just About the Buildings: How Community Development Organizations are Promoting Residents’ Mental Health Around the country, housing and community development groups are increasingly stepping up to partner with residents to improve community well-being by proactively strengthening residents’ emotional and mental health. By Amanda Abrams If there were any…

The Biden administration’s “once-in-a-generation” push to revamp U.S. infrastructure keeps people’s well-being at its heart. Inflation has made it harder for working people to get ahead, and most economists don’t think the pain is going to end anytime soon. The impact has been especially hard on underinvested communities shaped by…

Community benefits agreements, community ownership, and resident voice can help neighborhoods thrive from local investment. The impending construction of the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago’s Woodlawn neighborhood comes with the promise of reinvigorating the community. A 2019 community benefits ordinance has mandated that the City and developers build with an…

Could rural hospitals build on existing social services work by investing their assets to advance their communities’ health? Examples from Kansas, Vermont, Wisconsin, and Virginia show some possibilities. By Amanda Abrams One of the biggest new trends in the community development sector over the past half-decade is the entry of…

Black-led CDFIs are uniquely attuned to Black communities yet have six times less capital than White-led CDFIs. We know one thing from the 2008 economic meltdown: Communities of color were stripped of wealth and had only recently begun to find their footing again. When the COVID-19 pandemic swept the country…

Access to healthy food can support not only personal health but neighborhood health It says something about the persistence of food deserts in low-income neighborhoods when the managers of Carver Market, a new grocery store in Historic South Atlanta, have to drive 200 miles roundtrip each week to a small…

A successful demonstration program lays the foundation for a $13 million funding pool for supportive housing. By Barbara Ray Joanne was short of breath. It was 2017 and she was homeless, living on the streets in Chicago’s Uptown neighborhood. Joanne (a pseudonym) has bipolar disease and self-medicates with alcohol and…