Affordable Housing Investment: A Guide for Nonprofit Hospitals and Health Systems
Hospital and health care systems understand the connection between health and housing, and the potential impact of investments in affordable housing projects. Nevertheless, few health care institutions currently invest in construction and rehabilitation projects, in part due to the complexity of this work which is outside of their current scope. To help hospitals and health care systems navigate projects to invest in affordable housing, it is recommended that they engage with the community and in multi-sector partnerships to better understand how to house low to moderate-income individuals.
This report from Urban Institute is designed to help health care institutions forge these partnerships, and understand how to leverage their assets to support affordable housing development projects. Specifically, this guide provides key concepts and strategies informed by research of existing practices to help health institutions design and implement housing development projects.
Homelessness or poor-quality housing can significantly contribute to an individual’s physical and mental health. Because of their assets and their position in the community as anchors, hospital and health systems are uniquely positioned to contribute to developments of affordable housing in their neighborhoods and help improve health outcomes for residents.
