Members of the health care and community development sectors gathered to learn how to use Community Health Needs Assessments (CHNAs) to help create homes in collaboration with local hospitals and improve health outcomes in NJ communities. Today, over 150 attendees participated in the fourth annual Healthy Communities and Homes Summit hosted by the Housing and Community Development Network of New Jersey (the Network).

“The Affordable Care Act aims to improve health and reduce costs by taking a holistic approach using Community Health Needs Assessments,” said Staci Berger, president and chief executive officer of the Network. “Our members are collaborating with local hospitals to provide residents with homes that are affordable and free of dangers like lead and mold. These collaborations are creating community gardens, free health screenings, educational programs, and so much more to meet the needs of the communities these two sectors serve.”

Under the Affordable Care Act, non-profit hospitals are required to use CHNAs to demonstrate support for health outcomes. In NJ and other states, CHNAs are being used to address housing needs as part of the social determinants of health, driving hospital investments and health resources to neighborhoods.

The Network’s Healthy Homes and Communities Summit provides members of the health care and community development sectors an opportunity to network and hear from state officials, health experts and policy advocates on examples of successful partnerships and opportunities. At the 2018 Summit, NJ Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency Executive Director Charles A. Richman announced the launch of a pilot program, where the agency would provide matching funds for homes to be built near healthcare facilities. Richman made an appearance at this year’s Summit to provide an update on an initiative.

“Housing is health care. In less than a year, we have announced our first hospital agreement with St. Joseph’s Health, which will bring affordable and supportive apartments to the Paterson community," said Executive Director Richman. "Our program is the first to be created, financed and led by a state housing agency, and we are working with other hospitals to make additional partnership announcements in the near future."

Delivering a message via video, NJ First Lady Tammy Murphy also addressed the connection between housing and maternal health. The First Lady’s statewide awareness campaign, Nurture NJ, aims to reduce infant and maternal mortality and morbidity and by ensuring equitable maternal and infant care among women and children of all races and ethnicities.

"Through Nurture NJ, our infant and maternal health initiative, I have learned how expecting mothers in unstable housing situations, experience higher levels of stress which can be a danger to both themselves and their babies,” said First Lady Murphy. “The burden of housing expenses could force mothers into choosing between necessary health care and a roof over their heads. Housing instability touches so many areas of our lives that it can play a major role in determining the health and welfare of our residents and ultimately our communities. Our NJ families deserve more."

Featured speakers joining Richman, First Lady Murphy and Berger includedMichellene Davis, Executive Vice President and Chief Corporate Affairs Officer, RWJBarnabas Health; The Honorable Reed Gusciora, mayor of the City of Trenton; Edward Thomas, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Office of Lead Hazard Control and Healthy Homes; Kiki Jamieson, president, Fund for New Jersey; Serena Collado, director, community health, Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Somerset; Sandy Festa, executive director, AtlanticCare Health Services; Laura Rodgers, chief program officer, Jewish Family Services of Atlantic and Cape May Counties; and Robert Guarasci, founder & chief executive officer, NJ Community Development Corporation. Sponsored by Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Green, the Healthy Communities and Homes Summit was held at the Historic Masonic Temple in Trenton.

For more information on the Healthy Communities and Homes Summit, visit

www.hcdnnj.org/healthysummit.

About the Housing and Community Development Network of NJ

The Housing and Community Development Network of New Jersey is the statewide association of more than 250 community development corporations, individuals and other organizations that support the creation of affordable homes, economic opportunities, and strong communities.For more information on the Network, visit www.hcdnnj.org.