Conference Explores Intersection of Health and Affordable Housing

On Thursday, February 12th, 2015, the NYU Furman Center, in partnership with Enterprise Community Partners and Washington University’s George Warren Brown School of Social Work, hosted the Healthy Housing, Healthy Communities, Healthy Lives Convening at NYU School of Law. The series of panels discussed strategies to make affordable housing a healthier place to live, how to connect residents to the broader community, and how to strengthen opportunity in neighborhoods.

The conference consisted of four panel discussions:

1. What Attributes of Housing Affect Health: What do We Know and Not Know?

The first panel focused on how the physical features of housing can affect the health outcomes of low-income residents and the challenges of developing and building housing that is healthy. The panelists covered best practices from the affordable housing sector to emerging research in the health field.

The panel was moderated by Judi Kende, Vice President and New York Market Leader at Enterprise Community Partners. Panelists included: 

• Elizabeth Garland, MD, MS, Associate Professor, Departments of Preventive Medicine and Pediatrics, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
• Jonathan Rose, Founder and President, Jonathan Rose Companies
• Megan Sandel, MD, MPH Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the Boston University School of Medicine
   

2. What Attributes of Neighborhood/Community Affect Health? Who Cares and Why?

The second panel discussed interventions to create healthy environments, including strategies to reduce stress, facilitate the formation of social connections, and provide abundant opportunities to work, learn, and play.

The panel was moderated by David Erickson, Director of the Center for Community Development Investment at the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. Panelists included:

• Amy Gillman, National Program Director, Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC)
• Douglas Jutte, MD, MPH, Executive Director, Build Healthy Places Network
• Pamela Riley, MD, MPH, Assistant Vice President, Delivery System Reform, The Commonwealth Fund
   

3. Building Bridges: Connecting Public and Subsidized Housing Residents to Services and Resources in the Surrounding Communities

The third panel explored the potential for managers of public and other subsidized housing to improve the health and well-being of residents by building social connections, creating bridges to health services and resources in the larger neighborhood, and providing access to information.

The panel was moderated by Ingrid Gould Ellen, Paulette Goddard Professor of Urban Policy and Planning at the NYU Wagner School of Public Service, and Faculty Director at the NYU Furman Center. Panelists included:

• Marc Gourevitch, MD, MPH, Muriel G. and George W. Singer Professor and Founding Chair, Department of Population Health, NYU School of Medicine
• Shola Olatoye, Chair and Chief Executive Officer, New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA)
• Doug Shoemaker, President, Mercy Housing California (MHC)
   

4. Building Community, Connecting to Service and Property Management: Testing a New Paradigm for Mixed-Income Housing

The final panel discussed an innovative approach for providing services to residents of mixed-income housing. This program was conceived by the George Warren School of Social Work in New York City and involves training professionals who are skilled in property and people skills who are able to help a community of divergent people thrive.

The panel was moderated by Paul C. Brophy, Principal at Brophy & Reilly LLC, Senior Scholar at the George Warren Brown School, and Senior Advisor at Enterprise Community Partners. Panelists included:

• Richard Baron, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, McCormack Baron Salazar
• Vicki Been, Commissioner, NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development
• Mark Joseph, Associate Professor, Mandel School of Applied Sciences, Case Western Reserve University; Director, National Initiative on Mixed-Income Communities
   

Roughly 100 people attended the half-day conference. The conference program and the conference slide deck are available for download.