May is National Affordable Housing month and we celebrate the HAN member systems that are investing millions of dollars so that children and families in their communities can live in safe, healthy, and affordable homes!
One example is HAN member Dartmouth Health’s work with other local businesses to incubate the $10 million Upper Valley Loan Fund, with Dartmouth Health as the largest investor of $3 million. To date the fund has created nearly 200 housing units, with a majority reserved for households making 50%-80% of the Area Median Income in rural New Hampshire and Vermont. Dartmouth Health has also invested $5 million in the New Hampshire Community Loan Fund, a community development financial institution (CDFI), to help mobile homeowners form arrangements to cooperatively purchase the land where their mobile homes are located, called resident-owned communities (ROCs).
Another example is HAN member Cleveland Clinic and its local partners providing housing assistance to workers through the GCL Home Purchase Program (HPP) so that they can afford to purchase a home in the Greater Circle Living neighborhoods. A goal of the program is to assist families with wealth building and accessing quality, affordable housing near work. Cleveland Clinic provides employees with up to $20,000 in forgivable loans to purchase their homes and working families, including those earning $25/hour or less, have participated in the program.
See also: U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness Guidance on How Health Systems and Hospitals Can Help Solve Homelessness | Health Affairs article on Health Care’s Role In Ending Homelessness