What does health and housing mean to you? Does it mean reducing lead in our homes? Does it mean bringing support to us older adults so we can remain at home? The good news is that health and housing is a vast umbrella providing an opportunity for philanthropy to make a positive difference.

As growing evidence shows how profoundly our health is shaped by upstream factors, numerous foundations have focused their attention on the links between health and housing. The Retirement Research Foundation (RRF) has recognized the importance of addressing the relationship between health and housing through their grantmaking, with a special focus on our needs as we grow older.

The need for philanthropic support in health and housing initiatives is urgent and the results are proven. For example, every dollar invested in lead hazard control results in health, educational, and other savings between $17 to $221 (Gould 2009), a return slightly better than vaccines. Funders can play a critical role in bringing evidence-based models to scale and can also support innovative new solutions that bridge health and housing.

Grantmakers can invest in housing remediation to address environmental and health hazards and support efforts to combine affordable housing with co-located services. Beyond traditional grantmaking dollars, funders can lead evaluation and data collection efforts to build the evidence base for effective strategies, foster collaboration between the health and housing sectors, and increase the capacity of health providers to work with housing organizations.

In addition, foundations can also help develop public-private partnerships. Federal initiatives can benefit from the expertise, influence, and convening power of foundations.

 Read the full article about funding health and housing by Nancy Rockett Eldridge, Amanda Reddy, Nancy Zweibel at Grantmakers in Health.