About the Health Program

Health is about so much more than health care.

Our health and well-being are influenced by factors, including housing, education, economic stability, transportation and other services, along with community contexts like civic participation and interaction with the criminal justice system.

Our access to these social determinants of health is governed by the social determinants of equity – systems of power like structural racism, sexism, nativism, ableism and poverty.

As the Health team at the Kresge Foundation, we are focused on building equity-focused systems of health that create opportunities for everyone to be as healthy as they can be.

In our ideal future, people and communities are thriving and have the power to realize their vision of health and well-being. All sectors work together for the benefit of everyone, especially low-wealth communities of color. And we benefit from a fully functioning democracy that includes and represents everyone.

To help ensure that future, we champion community-led solutions, working closely with our partners to make sure that people with low incomes in America’s cities have access to high quality affordable housing, fresh food, clean air, safe neighborhoods and economic opportunities.

We aim to reduce the racial wealth gap as a pathway toward achieving health equity. We seek to reimagine systems of care and help build local health ecosystems where communities are safe, engaged, served and healthy.

We’re committed to addressing racial equity in our work and recognizing the challenges communities face in addressing structural racism.

Communities across the U.S. have the expertise and experience to design solutions that change systems, services and practices to achieve equitable health outcomes. By changing how we invest in communities and trusting in their power and ability, together we can build new systems of health for all of us.