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Housing Is Working Group 2023-2024 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 the mobility asthma project, trauma-informed approaches to housing, resident-focused racial equity work, out-of-school time, and how FCC grantees are supprting voucher holders.

View Calendar
 

Elements of a Successful Partnership

With generous support from the MacArthur Foundation, CLPHA developed an in-depth report on regional housing-education collaborations taking place at housing authorities across the Pacific-Northwest.

Read the Multimedia Report
 
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Policy Brief
Community:
Sep 28, 2022
Approximately one in five adults reported experiencing household food insecurity in both spring 2020 and again in summer 2022, after a decline in reported food insecurity in spring 2021. High food price inflation, along with elevated costs for other basic needs, such as transportation and rent, have likely eroded food budgets in the last year. In addition, some of the safety net responses that buffered food insecurity in 2021 are no longer in place. In this brief, we use data from the Health Reform Monitoring Survey, a nationally representative survey of nonelderly adults, to assess food insecurity among households with nonelderly adults in March/April 2020, April 2021, and June 2022.

Authored by: Elaine Waxman, Julio Salas, Poonam Gupta, Michael Karpman for the Urban Institute
Topics: Food insecurity, Research, Stability
Shared by Sandra Ware on Oct 27, 2022
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Case study
Community:
Aug 1, 2022
Created by the Older Americans Act in 1973, AAAs are part of the national Aging Network. AAAs are the local leaders that develop, coordinate, and deliver a wide range of home and community-based services. These services include information and referral/assistance, case management, home-delivered meals and meals in congregate settings, in-home services, caregiver supports, transportation, evidence based health and wellness programs, long-term care ombudsman programs, and more. People who receive services provided by AAAs have improved health and well-being, helping them remain in their homes and thrive in the community.

Authored by: U.S Administration for Community Living
Topics: Disabilities, Food insecurity, Homelessness, Housing, Low-income, Seniors, Supportive housing
Shared by Sandra Ware on Oct 18, 2022
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Case study
Community:
Aug 1, 2022
As an Area Agency on Aging (AAA), AgeSpan engages in innovative partnerships with housing providers through the Massachusetts Supportive Housing Program (MSHP). Working with property managers at designated local housing sites, AgeSpan places staff as resident service coordinators (RSCs). The RSCs deliberately build strong, trusting relationships with residents, offering a daily touchstone that greatly improves quality of life. When housing and services are coordinated, older adults and people with disabilities are better able to live well in the community.

Authored by: U.S administration for Community Living
Topics: Disabilities, Food insecurity, Housing, Low-income, Seniors
Shared by Sandra Ware on Oct 18, 2022

AGESPAN AND PARTNERS BRING HOUSING AND SERVICES TOGETHER

Case study
Aug 1, 2022
U.S administration for Community Living
As an Area Agency on Aging (AAA), AgeSpan engages in innovative partnerships with housing providers through the Massachusetts Supportive Housing Program (MSHP). Working with property managers at designated local housing sites, AgeSpan places staff as resident service coordinators (RSCs).
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Policy Brief
Community:
Dec 4, 2019
In California, more than 3.7 million students were eligible for free or reduced priced school meals in the 2017-2018 school year. For many of those students, school meals are the primary source of regular access to healthy food. When the bell rings at 3:00 or lets out for summer break, many of those students go home to nutritional uncertainty or high-calorie, low-nutrient foods. For many low-income families, the out-of-school-time food access gap increases family stress: limited budgets are stretched further to cover food, rent, utilities, transportation, medications, and chidcare costs. For very young children, food insecurity can negatively impact brain and physical development. For children of all ages, disrupted access to healthy food can impact behavior, increase risk of obesity, make it harder to concentrate, or exacerbate existing healthy conditions like type 2 diabetes. The impact is not limited to summer, and can lead to a rocky start to the school year, negatively impacting school attendance and students’ ability to effectively participate in school. Read the full brief to learn how public and affordable housing communities can address food insecurity for children and youth with the help of out-of-school-time USDA child nutrition programs.

Authored by:
Topics: Advocacy, Early childhood, Food insecurity, Health, Healthy homes, Housing, Legislation & Policy, Low-income, Nutrition, Out-of-school time, West Coast, Youth
Shared by Linda Lu on Dec 4, 2019

Keeping Kids Healthy and Engaged When School is Out Through Public and Affordable Housing Communities

Policy Brief
Dec 4, 2019
In California, more than 3.7 million students were eligible for free or reduced priced school meals in the 2017-2018 school year. For many of those students, school meals are the primary source of regular access to healthy food.
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Policy Brief
Community:
May 2, 2019
Spring is in full bloom in Washington, D.C., and so are key pieces of legislation that FRAC is monitoring and weighing in on. Below is an overview of legislative proposals in the 116th Congress to look out for that would impact critical anti-hunger and anti-poverty programs.

Authored by: Lauren Badger for Food Research & Action Center
Topics: Asset building, Food insecurity, Legislation & Policy, Nutrition, Seniors
Shared by Housing Is on May 6, 2019
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Policy Brief
Community:
Congress has an important opportunity in 2019 to improve the health of millions of our nation’s children by passing a strong reauthorization that protects and strengthens the child nutrition programs. These successful, cost-effective federal nutrition programs play a critical role in helping children in low-income families achieve access to child care, educational, and enrichment activities while improving overall nutrition, health, development, and academic achievement.

Authored by: Feeding America and Food Research & Action Center
Topics: Child welfare, Early childhood, Food insecurity, Funding, Legislation & Policy, Low-income, Nutrition
Shared by Housing Is on May 1, 2019
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Interactive
Community:
This interactive map provides state-by-state data on Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) participation rates among eligible seniors and for comparison, participation rates among all eligible individuals. FRAC’s map and accompanying tables show that just 42 percent of eligible seniors (60+) are using SNAP on average each month — compared to 83 percent of all SNAP-eligible people that participate in SNAP.

Authored by: Food Research & Action Center (FRAC)
Topics: Food insecurity, Health, Nutrition, Seniors
Shared by Housing Is on Apr 2, 2019
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Interactive
Community:
Includes: The Strength of SNAP and SNAP Action Needed, The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP), Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP), and Child Nutrition Reauthorization.

Authored by: Food Research & Action Center (FRAC)
Topics: Food insecurity, Funding, Legislation & Policy, Low-income, Nutrition
Shared by Mica O'Brien on Mar 1, 2019
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Case study
Community:
The Addressing Healthcare’s Blindside in Albuquerque’s South Side (AHBASS) collaborative participated in the BUILD Health Challenge’s first cohort with the intention of “making the healthy choice, the easy choice” for community members. Now you can learn about their strategies, approaches, application of the BUILD principles, and outcomes in this new case study documenting their work. Follow along in this case study and see how this Albuquerque, NM, based team addressed chronic disease and self-management in their community. Together, they established a multi-sector collaboration that resulted in a referral tracking system and a Mobile Farmers Market. In addition, the team implemented the Healthy Here Wellness Referral Center, an integrated chronic disease management referral system to link clinics to community resources in order to improve health outcomes.

Authored by: The BUILD Health Challenge
Topics: Data sharing, Food insecurity, Health, Low-income, Nutrition, Partnerships
Shared by Mica O'Brien on Feb 20, 2019
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Policy Brief
Community:
Jan 30, 2019
Under the continuing resolution (CR) that provided the funding to reopen the government for three weeks, SNAP (food stamps) now is fully funded at least through March, even if the government shuts down again on February 15. Millions of families, however, face a longer-than-usual gap between their February and March benefits because the Agriculture Department worked with states to issue February benefits early during the shutdown, and that could further strain household budgets, the emergency food network, and other community resources.

Authored by: Dottie Rensbaum for The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
Topics: Food insecurity, Funding, Health, Legislation & Policy, Low-income, Nutrition
Shared by Mica O'Brien on Jan 30, 2019

SNAP Can Cover Full Benefits Through March, But Participants Face Big Gaps Between February and March Benefits

Policy Brief
Jan 30, 2019
Dottie Rensbaum for The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
Under the continuing resolution (CR) that provided the funding to reopen the government for three weeks, SNAP (food stamps) now is fully funded at least through March, even if the government shuts down again on February 15.
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Policy Brief
Community:
Nov 5, 2018
The potential impacts of expanding the regulation known as “public charge” have yet to be fully understood, but experts anticipate that young children in immigrant families—more than 90 percent of them US citizens—could be disproportionately affected. The proposed rule could make it more difficult for noncitizens to obtain green cards or temporary visas by negatively weighing several factors during the immigration admissions process, including current or potential participation in safety net programs such as Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

Authored by: Erica Greenberg and Archana Pyati for The Urban Institute
Topics: Child welfare, Early childhood, Education, Food insecurity, Housing, Immigrants, Legislation & Policy, Low-income
Shared by Mica O'Brien on Nov 5, 2018

Could "public charge" reduce public preschool participation among immigrant families?

Policy Brief
Nov 5, 2018
Erica Greenberg and Archana Pyati for The Urban Institute
The potential impacts of expanding the regulation known as “public charge” have yet to be fully understood, but experts anticipate that young children in immigrant families—more than 90 percent of them US citizens—could be disproportionately affected.
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Policy Brief
Community:
Oct 9, 2018
This brief highlights evidence on nutrition supports for families with young children and proposes a policy-focused research agenda designed to address knowledge gaps in two areas: (1) understanding disparities in participation in nutrition supports and (2) assessing strategies to increase access to nutrition supports and reduce nutrition disparities.

Authored by: Mathematica
Topics: Child welfare, Dual-generation, Early childhood, Food insecurity, Low-income, Nutrition, Research
Shared by Mica O'Brien on Oct 22, 2018

Nutrition Supports for Families with Young Children: An Equity-Focused Policy Research Agenda

Policy Brief
Oct 9, 2018
Mathematica
This brief highlights evidence on nutrition supports for families with young children and proposes a policy-focused research agenda designed to address knowledge gaps in two areas: (1) understanding disparities in participation in nutrition supports and (2) assessing strategies to increase access to
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Case study
Community:
Aug 9, 2018
The Vita Health & Wellness District is a one-mile corridor in Stamford, Connecticut, that has positioned itself as a “health-themed neighborhood,” offering mixed-income housing, health care services, community farming, early childhood education programming, and supportive services to residents. Led by the city’s public housing authority Charter Oak Communities and Stamford Hospital, this collaboration of city agencies and community-based organizations has focused on building physical and social capacity in a distressed neighborhood, with an emphasis on leveraging collective investments to yield a positive impact on neighborhood health and well-being.

Authored by:
Topics: Community development, Education, Food insecurity, Funding, Health, Housing, Nutrition, Partnerships
Shared by Housing Is on Aug 9, 2018

Tapping into a Collective Vision: Emerging Strategies for Integrating Health and Housing

Case study
Aug 9, 2018
The Vita Health & Wellness District is a one-mile corridor in Stamford, Connecticut, that has positioned itself as a “health-themed neighborhood,” offering mixed-income housing, health care services, community farming, early childhood education programming, and supportive services to residents.
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Case study
Community:
Jul 13, 2018
The Conway Center is a project of a nonprofit housing and services organization, So Others Might Eat, and a federally qualified health center, Unity Health Care, in Washington, DC. This $90 million community development initiative will colocate employment training, health care services, and affordable housing under one roof in Ward 7, an area of DC experiencing high poverty and unemployment, and poor health outcomes. The partnership aims to improve access to affordable rental housing, increase livable-wage job attainment, and connect residents to high-quality health care services. Although still under construction, this partnership highlights how a shared vision among community-serving organizations and funders can result in a comprehensive strategy for improving resident health and well-being

Authored by:
Topics: Community development, Cost effectiveness, Food insecurity, Health, Housing, Low-income, Medicaid / Medicare, Partnerships, Place-based, Stability
Shared by Housing Is on Jul 13, 2018