We won’t accept polluted water, dangerous heat, and unpredictable energy costs as foregone conclusions in our communities—and our banks shouldn’t either. Instead, banks should work to enrich our communities with long-term, sustainable solutions that will improve residents’ health and welfare.
Understanding how to build neighborhoods in a way that improves the health of residents is at the heart of the Healthy Neighborhoods Study.
We’re building healthy communities, one neighborhood at a time.
In this special issue of Conservation Matters, we want to take you behind the scenes of our work, to give you a glimpse into how we break down challenges and take advantage of opportunities to create a healthy, thriving New England – not just for today, but for generations to come.
The neighborhood improved, but was still rough around the edges, said Maggie Church, senior adviser at Conservation Law Foundation, a New England community group.
The Healthy Neighborhoods Equity Fund is a groundbreaking example of impact investing that marries margin and mission in a marketable fund focused on social determinants of health in the built environment.
Completing a new neighborhood development is just the beginning of the story. The true success of such targeted investment will come with the changes it brings to a community over time. That’s where Vedette Gavin, CLF’s Director of Research, comes in. “The reality is that the relationship between development and health is extremely complex,” she says.
Fighting Big Gas How One Community’s Fight Could Shape the Future of New England Restoring Lake Champlain Reasons for Hope after Decades of Degradation Local Food 2.0 Training a New Generation of Farmers in Western Massachusetts Whale Watch Saving North Atlantic Right Whales from Extinction Measuring Community Health A New Research Model Puts the Community… Continue reading Conservation Matters Summer 2017: Year in Review
Why is it so difficult to finance the development of healthy neighborhoods when the benefits to people, communities, and the economy are so profound? The answer, at least in part, lies in the fact that these benefits are not generally measured or accounted for in any systematic way.
For a neighborhood to truly thrive, it needs healthy people, a healthy environment, and a healthy economy with opportunities for all. Improving neighborhood environments can boost health, but traditional financing sources simply aren’t capable of addressing those needs at a project level. Recognizing the complex challenges of building healthy and sustainable communities, three years ago,… Continue reading Building Healthy Communities One Neighborhood at a Time
