Q. Congratulations on the award! How does it feel to be the recipient?
A. Thank you. It’s an honor to receive this award from such a strong community partner and health advocate. Clearly, Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island understands the direct relationship between having safe, affordable housing and an individual’s health. They heard the concerns of the community that were brought up in the RI Life Index data and now they are investing substantial funding to do something about it. They are a true community partner dedicated to improving the health of Rhode Islanders.
Q. We’ve heard that your zip code may be more important to your health than your genetic code, but how direct is the link between housing and health?
A. Our core commitment at LISC is to safe, affordable housing so we — and other housing advocates — have been focused on this for a long time. But the pandemic brought the housing crisis into sharp focus and as a community we clearly saw the direct impact of housing insecurity on the lives, livelihoods and education of our neighbors. We saw the struggles families went through who were living in overcrowded situations or who were cost burdened and juggling bills to make ends meet. These communities suffered through the pandemic with more disastrous results. When housing costs take up nearly 50% of your income, there’s very little left for food, medicine, recreation or exercise – the basic social determinants of health.
Many studies show the positive impact on individual health — as well as a decrease in health costs — when homeless populations become housed. There are studies that show the cost savings of providing health services along with housing for specific marginalized populations. It’s a clear, direct relationship between having a safe, affordable home and health equity – whether that’s through reduced levels of Toxic Stress, improved attendance in schools and in the workplace — or simply the increased access to fresh fruits and vegetables.
Q. The availability of housing is at a crisis level in Rhode Island, and there are many proposals under consideration right now for funding. Some housing advocates are suggesting as much as $500M of the ARPA funding be allocated to housing. Is it all necessary?
A. It’s important to add additional housing at all levels of opportunity as quickly as possible. Clearly we are at a crisis level and many families are hurting. It's also downward pressure on our state economy. One way to improve the economic outlook for our entire state is to ensure the economic stability of its residents. When families aren’t paying 50% of their income to keep a roof over their head, they will have disposable income to pay for other things like groceries, gas, cars, or child care for their children. Families who shop in their communities grow the local economy.
The $65M bond issue approved by voters last March will provide funding to support the same levels of building that RI has done in the past, but maintaining those levels has meant we are losing ground. We need to focus many funding streams on this one important goal of improving housing security in order to make meaningful change. That also means allocating a large portion of the ARPA funding to that mission. Investments in housing is the single driver that will reap rewards in other areas like workforce development and education success — and health equity. We have to use all tools in our tool belt to achieve the results we need.
Q. What makes this program so unique?
A. LISC is a Community Development Financial Intermediary. We gather resources from private funders and foundations, and support with state and federal programs to concentrate support through dollars and technical assistance to the partners that can deliver results. Our goal is to match the $4M award from Blue Cross with an additional $4M raised from other local funders in Rhode Island who understand the connection between housing and health. We have some strong leadership in the health sector here. It’s time for them to step up to help respond to the need for housing as a foundational social determinant of health.