The Kresge Foundation’s Health Program – which seeks to align and integrate systems to better serve the health of people with low incomes – announced today the creation of a new funding opportunity: Advancing Health Equity Through Housing.

As of today, Kresge will begin accepting proposals until the opportunity closes on August 13, 2018. Grant support will be provided in one of two ways:

1. Planning grants (for up to one year and up to $100,000 in grant support).
2. General operating support and programmatic grants (for up to two years, and up to $200,000 in grant support per year).

“We’re seeking to identify and accelerate community-led policy and system changes that reduce displacement, segregation and gentrification, as well as support innovative funding strategies that better connect housing and health sectors and recognize multi-sector partnerships that preserve and increase the supply of stable housing for improved health, well-being and health equity in low-income communities,” said Stacey Barbas, senior program officer with the Health Program.

Over the course of a decade, the foundation has learned important lessons about the intersection of health and stable, equitable housing, including:

• Housing, particularly for low- and moderate-income households, is an important platform for individuals and families to achieve well-being and economic stability.
• Solutions designed with significant and meaningful input from those most affected are most likely to result in positive long-term change. 

This funding opportunity is situated within the Health Program’s Community-Driven Solutions focus area, defined as locally determined solutions and policies that influence systems, services, practices to help support communities to improve housing quality, stability, environmental conditions and food systems.

Organizations looking to apply for this grant support should know that Kresge seeks to identify and accelerate community-led policy and system changes that reduce displacement, segregation and gentrification, support innovative funding strategies that better connect housing and health sectors and recognize multi-sector partnerships that preserve and increase the supply of stable housing for improved health, well-being and health equity in low-income communities.

Competitive proposals will meet the following criteria:

• Address upstream determinants of health.
• Have a strong community and equity focus.

• Include multi-sector involvement minimally from health and housing fields and optimally partners from additional sectors.
• Community resident-level engagement and power building at the policy and/or practice level focused on solutions to one or more health and housing issue such as, but not limited to:

• Physical and emotional trauma emanating from housing instability.
• Impact of displacement (fair housing, community planning, etc.).
• Housing design/quality (addressing health conditions such as lead, asthma).

To apply, please submit your full proposal here. Kresge has also created a briefing document for fuller background on this grant opportunity. Read it here. An FAQ on the opportunity is available here.

Proposals submissions must be completed by 11:59 p.m. ET on August 13, 2018. Another round of funding in this category will be announced in mid-fall 2018 with funding in early 2019.

NOTE TO NEW APPLICANTS:  If you have not applied to the Kresge Foundation for funding previously, you must register in the FLUXX system first.  Registration can take up to 48 hours, so please take this into consideration when applying.