The healthcare provider's decision to spend $200 million on housing programs reflects the growing awareness of the intersectionality of housing and health.
Kriston Capps and Benjamin Schneider share news of a major funding advancement for the Mayors and CEOs for U.S. Housing Investment—an organization dedicated to pushing "the federal government to answer the affordable housing crisis."
According to Capps an Schneider, the organization announced $200 million in funding from healthcare provider Kaiser Permanente, based in Oakland, California.
Kaiser will spend the $200 million in the eight states (plus the District of Columbia) where it operates. The funds will be part of Kaiser’s impact investment fund, meaning they will be expected to generate a return so that the fund can continue to make new investments in the future. This could be accomplished through residential developments that mix homeless services and market-rate housing, according to Rainwater.
The article places the funding news in context of a larger movement to consider housing as deeply related with issues of public health, in addition to acknowledging the significance of such a large healthcare provider entering the housing policy realm so directly.
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