Health and Housing Funders' Forum

Mission
The Health and Housing Funders’ Forum fosters collaboration among philanthropic organizations to make a significant impact in the areas of healthy housing and healthy communities and seeks to re-envision housing so that it leads to better health for vulnerable populations. Funders’ Forum members are ambassadors in their spheres of influence, creating a multidisciplinary ripple effect in areas such as health equity, sustainability, housing and community development, and public health. The Funders’ Forum is a non-dues-paying collaborative that provides its members with a range of opportunities, tools, and resources, such as webinars, peer networking, and conferences.

Background
The Funders’ Forum was founded by The Kresge Foundation and the National Center for Healthy Housing (NCHH) in 2009 to align philanthropic funding plans and priorities in the housing and health space. The idea for the Funders’ Forum originated at the 2009 National Healthy Housing Policy Summit, when several philanthropic organizations saw the value of partnering to advance investment in safe and healthy housing. A subsequent meeting in February 2010 united many of these leaders, and the group identified an action agenda for philanthropy.

Outcomes
The group identified the following four outcomes at an April 2012 in-person meeting:

  • A comprehensive healthy housing field of practice exists at the intersection of housing and health.
  • The healthy housing story is told in a compelling way to promote action across all sectors.
  • Investments in healthy housing are aligned to maximize funding.
  • A targeted healthy housing policy agenda is effective in promoting system-level change.

Get Involved
To learn more about the Funders’ Forum, please contact Michelle Harvey, NCHH’s Director of Administration, at 443.539.4166.

Recent Meetings

Health and Housing Funders’ Forum Webinars 

The Health and Housing Funders' Forum recently hosted a panel of experts that spoke about two successful Housing Based Services Models (HBSMs):one in Vermont and one in Oregon, and their importance in addressing the social determinants of health, promoting population health and advancing health care systems change.

According to a rigorous independent evaluation of Vermont's Support And Services at Home (SASH) model by RTI and LeadingAge, the model is reducing the rate of growth in Medicare spending significantly, while improving health and access to care. In Oregon, the Housing with Services model brought together a partnership of housing development organizations, the state's largest Medicaid insurance provider, and several nonprofit social service agencies. A study completed by Enterprise Community Partners and the Center for Outcomes Research and Education (CORE) reports on Medicaid savings. Learn more about SASH and Healthy Housing for Older Adults on our webpage.

View the recording from September 21, 2016. Watch Online


To access our past webinar series about gentrification, view the three webinars below.
 Part 1: December 1, 2015 - Understanding how Affordability Impacts Health - Watch Online
 Part 2: March 16, 2016 - Displacement and Gentrification - Watch Online
 Part 3: May 18, 2016 - Displacement and Gentrification: Promising Approaches to Solutions - Watch Online


If you have questions, comments, or suggestions for upcoming webinars, please contact Michelle Harvey at 443.539.4166.

Learn More