Community Development & the Social Determinants of Health was held August 30 in Cleveland, Ohio to explore how the community development and health fields can partner to improve health, increase prosperity and build better places. It was sponsored by the New Venture Fund with support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and LISC.

NACEDA Symposium Steering Committee
Statement of Purpose
Agenda & Presentations
Recommended Reading

Steering Committee

Michele Craig, Community Catalyst | Amy Gillman, Local Initiatives Support Corporation | Brian McGrain, Community Economic Development Association of Michigan | Douglas Jutte, Build Healthy Places Network | Garrett O’Dwyer, Philadelphia Association of Community Development Corporations | Joe Kriesberg, Massachusetts Association of Community Development Corporations | Mary Helen Petrus, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland | Robert Zdenek, National Community Reinvestment Coalition | Steve Dubb, Democracy Collaborative | Val Iverson, Arizona Housing Alliance | Harold Simon and Miriam Axel-Lute, National Housing Institute/Shelterforce


Statement of Purpose

The health and wellness sector is adjusting to new research, knowledge, and regulation, shifting the sands beneath their feet. Community developers are ripe and ready for partnership models aimed at improving lives by developing better places.

Do neighborhoods have access to healthy food?  Is the neighborhood walkable?  Are homes of high quality?  Are community supports in place? If zip code has a greater impact on health than genetic code, then improving public health requires direct health system engagement in the "zip code improvement business."  

And as we know, zip code improvement is the business of community development. With leadership from government, philanthropy, and institutional and community leaders, the health, wellness, and community development fields are learning they can accomplish more together than they can apart.

Of course, while our goals are aligned, our approaches and language differ. The NACEDA Health Symposium sponsored by the New Venture Fund with support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation will explore unique opportunities and challenges presented by health and community development partnerships; the levers of power and influence across sectors; and how the systems of influence across these two fields align to improve health, increase prosperity, and build better places.

Agenda & Presentations
Doug Jutte NACEDA symposium

MORNING KEYNOTE
THE DOCTOR IS OUT: HEALTH HAPPENS WHERE YOU LIVE, LEARN, WORK AND PLAY

Dr. Douglas Jutte, Build Healthy Places Network
This session explains what we mean by “social determinants of health,” describe a bit of the biology behind how these factors cause illness, and make the case that community development efforts fundamentally represent investments towards improving neighborhood health and well being. View Doug’s presentation

REGIONAL PARTNERSHIPS IMPACTING HEALTH, WELLNESS AND OPPORTUNITY

PHILADELPHIA, PA

Rick Sauer, Philadelphia Association of Community Economic Development Corporations; Steve Dubb, Democracy Collaborative (facilitator); Dr. James Plumb, Thomas Jefferson University Department of Family & Community Medicine. View James and Rick’s presentation

NACEDA Symposium ARIZONA
Valerie Iverson, Arizona Housing Alliance; Marcus Johnson, Vitalyst Health Foundation; Robert Zdenek, National Community Reinvestment Coalition (facilitator)

SOUTH CAROLINA
Lowell Atkinson, South Carolina Association for Community Economic Development; Joy Tobin, The MITRE Corporation; Paige Carlson-Heim, TD Bank (facilitator). View Joy and Lowell’s presentation and the Healthy Insights South Carolina website

LUNCHEON KEYNOTE

Kevin BarnettGETTING TO CONVERGENCE: EMERGING LESSONS IN EFFORTS TO ALIGN THE HEALTH AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT SECTORS
Dr. Kevin Barnett, Public Health Institute
Dr. Barnett shares insights in growing efforts to align the assets and strategies of hospitals and the broader health sector with community development stakeholders, and the opportunities and challenges in the context of national health reform. His talk includes the sharing of emerging lessons from current efforts in the field. View Kevin's presentation

CHALLENGES & OPPORTUNITIES OF PARTNERSHIP

» Session 1  SHARING INFORMATION, DATA & AGREEING ON DESIRED OUTCOMES
Amy Gillman, LISC (facilitator); Lisa Leighton, United Healthcare myConnections; Vincent Tufo, Charter Oak Communities; Pam Koprowski, Stamford Hospital; Pedro Cons, Chicanos Por la Causa
Community development and health practitioners have a common goal to improve wellbeing, but most often work in silos with different language, culture, operating practices and resources. This session features innovative partnerships that have navigated the use of data, information and communications across these sectors to support shared priorities and objectives. In Stamford, CT, Charter Oak Communities, a housing organization, joined with Stamford Hospital to create the Vita Health & Wellness District to address pressing needs for better housing, transit, economic development and other community services – all driven by a collective impact approach. In Phoenix, AZ, UnitedHealthcare is partnering with Chicanos Por La Causa, a community development corporation, to pilot myCommunity Connect – an integrated referral and service delivery initiative that connects residents with safe housing, transportation, education and job training – in addition to critical clinical support. View Pedro and Lisa’s presentation and the Vita Health & Wellness District website

» Session 2  PARTNERSHIPS ARE HARD
Harold Simon, National Housing Institute (facilitator); Angela Mingo, Nationwide Children’s Hospital; David Cofer, Community Development for All People; Risa Silverman, University of Massachusetts Amherst; Dave Christopolis, Hilltown CDC
Community developers improve the health of families and individuals by providing healthy homes, access to fresh food, stress-free environments, and more. Health practitioners strengthen communities through education, home care, behavioral interventions, and more. Today these two broad fields are becoming increasingly aware of each other’s work, learning how to align their strengths and goals, and partnering to leverage their effectiveness. But partnerships are hard. Unique lexicons, work styles, timelines, and goals have to be learned. Measurements and analyses have to be aligned. And how the capacities of one can complement the other has to be understood by both. In this session you’ll hear about partnerships at different stages of maturity and learn how each partner became aware of the other, aligned their goals, and developed their activities. Discuss with them your concerns, questions, and hopes for these new opportunities.

LEVERS TO BRING HEALTH AND/OR COMMUNITY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT PARTNERS TO THE TABLE
Dr. Michele Craig, Community Catalyst; Tedd Grain, LISC Indianapolis; Quentin Moore, Trinity Health; Zoila Jennings, JPMorgan Chase; Maria Gonzalez, HACE CDC
When meeting with a decision-maker with an ask, what works? What doesn’t? What do they wish you knew before you came into the meeting with them? And if you are a decision-maker, what attracts you to some partners and not others? This panel discussion allowed participants to hear the perspectives of decision-makers from a bank, a hospital, a Community Development Corporation (CDC), and a Community Development Finance Institution (CDFI) that have been approached with an “ask” and what they think you should know.

NACEDA Symposium PITCH A PARTNERSHIP
Andy Fraizer, Indiana Association for Community Economic Development; Dan Hodgkins, Community Health Network; Sarida Scott, Community Development Advocates of Detroit; Quentin Moore, Trinity Health
We explored the "dos" and "don'ts" of pitching partnerships between community development and health care organizations during this fun role-playing session.

Recommended Reading

Health Equity and the Role for Community Development, Douglas Jutte and Colby Dailey, Build Healthy Places Network
UnitedHealthcare Maryvale Clinic Wants to Be National Model
, Alexa N. D'Angelo, Arizona Republic
Playing Matchmaker for UnitedHealthcare and an Arizona Neighborhood, Elizabeth Duffrin, NACEDA People & Places blog 
Under One Roof: Health Care and Social Services in the Same Place, David Adame, Shelterforce Rooflines
From Guard Towers to Gardens, Elizabeth Duffrin, NACEDA People & Places blog
Healthy Communities, A Framework for Meeting CRA Obligations, Elizabeth Sobel Blum, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas
Community Benefit and CRA: A Side-By-Side Comparison of Nonprofit Hospital and Bank Regulation, NACEDA and Community Catalyst
Jargon Buster, Build Healthy Places Network
Staying at Home: The Role of Financial Services in Promoting Aging in Community, Karen Kali and Robert Zdenek, National Community Reinvestment Coalition