Urban Pathways’ Post

👏👏👏 for Urban Pathways Total Wellness Program in helping our consumers live healthier lives AND reducing visits to the ER and 911 calls! A few things to highlight: 💡 The work is not done when someone has a roof over their heads and this is just one of the many ways Urban Pathways helps our consumers on their path to independent living. 💡 Nonprofits can be a powerful source of innovation filling an experimentation gap that the government and for-profit sector aren't ready to address but more often than not, the funding for these new projects comes from private donations so... 💡 ...If you give, please consider using your dollars to fund not just day-to-day work but also new (even unproven) programs so we can validate new solutions for systemic change. Ans if you're looking for some inspiration, take 3 minutes to read this Gothamist article on the program and the people impacted. Thank you Karen Yi for shining a light on our work! https://lnkd.in/gMzZWWCn #endhomelessness #totalwellness #innovation

Two-thirds (66%) of #Americans aged 50 or older are worried about affording #assistedliving. Worries increase with age and lower income, with 37% considering $60,000 per year is unattainable. Interested in #multifamily #Senior #affordablehousing? Connect with Dani Evanson to explore #multifamilydevelopment, affordable housing with #taxcredits and Step-Up Housing, our new non-profit supporting the creation of #affordable #housing.

A #Peterborough or #Fenland resident can expect to live, on average, 5 years less than a #SouthCambridgeshire resident. What's even more staggering is the disparity that you can find across a single city - The difference in average life expectancy between the most and least deprived people in #Cambridge is 12 years. There are a variety of factors that contribute to these differences and there is no single solution, but hundreds of community and charity projects that we support across #Cambridgeshire are collectively helping to address these disparities. Here are just two examples of projects we have supported: Peterborough United Foundation runs an Extra Time Hub, a weekly gathering open to anyone who is retired or semi-retired. Activities at the hub are aimed to support physical and mental health and wellbeing, reduce isolation and help members feel more connected to their community.  👉 https://lnkd.in/exp47ipx Abbey People's Food Hub supports residents in one of the most deprived wards in Cambridge. It provides a lifeline for people facing food insecurity, ensuring they have access to affordable, healthy food. 👉 https://lnkd.in/esbsH2f5 Thanks to our generous supporters, we have recently seen significant investment in local health and wellbeing. However, the latest Vital Signs report demonstrates just how much more there is left to do to address health inequalities across our county. Read the latest on local health and wellbeing and find out how you could help: https://lnkd.in/e8MmbmDJ

In the social policy classes I teach, we often discuss the role of nonprofits and how they can both help and inadvertently hold complex problems in place. Providing respite nursing home housing for unhoused older adults with serious medical conditions is essential. Still, it may also prevent policymakers from addressing the core issue of lack of affordable housing. Balancing immediate needs with sustainable change is crucial. What do you think? (Gift article below) #SocialPolicy #NonprofitImpact #AgingPopulation #RespiteCare #LongTermSolutions #AgingWell #SocialJustice

In CalAIM's #BehavioralHealth reform, the promise has been easier access to care, supporting the safety net service delivery system, and 'no wrong door' approaches. But, new payment changes challenge nonprofits, putting at risk the services they provide to extremely vulnerable communities. Read the CalMatters article here: https://lnkd.in/g76xZ-PS

Applications are now being accepted by Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Somerset, an RWJBarnabas Health facility, for its Healing Homes transitional housing initiative. The hospital provides two homes in Somerville for transitional housing for Somerset County, NJ individuals or families who have an illness that caused financial hardship and are unable to afford housing. As part of RWJBarnabas Health’s Social Impact and Community Investment Practice, the hospital launched Healing Homes in 2019 with one home. A second home was renovated for the initiative in 2022. Furnishings for the homes were donated by Acme Drapemaster Inc. and Flemington Department Store. The deadline for Healing Homes applications is May 31. An assigned case manager will refer participants in Healing Homes to resources that are designed to help with their individually identified health issues as well as community resources that offer support for basic needs such as employment, transportation, social services and permanent housing. The hospital’s two Healing Homes are two-bedroom ranch homes. One home is handicapped accessible. Each home is available to a single individual or a single family of no more than four. To be considered for Healing Homes, participants must meet specific criteria for consideration, such as: have an illness that has caused financial hardship and makes them unable to afford housing and /or basic cost of living; have limited access to health care; are employed with a steady income but earn below the New Jersey Housing and Urban Development (HUD) income guidelines. Additionally, participants in Healing Homes must demonstrate a willingness to achieve the goals identified by the case manager in their individual progress plan to improve their circumstances. Preference will be given to applicants who are residents in the towns identified in the hospital’s Community Health Needs Assessment with a median household income below the Somerset County average: Bound Brook, South Bound Brook, North Plainfield, Somerset, Franklin and Manville. Representatives from the following organizations serve on the hospital’s Healing Homes Committee: Affinity Federal Credit Union, Bonnie Brae, Central Jersey Housing Resource Center (CJHRC), Pioneer Family Success Center, The Greater Raritan Workforce Development Board, Habitat for Humanity, Safe+Sound Somerset, Somerset County Board of Social Services, Somerset County Community Development, Somerset County Health Department and Housing Authority, Somerset County Human Services, the Alice Project of the United Way of Northern New Jersey and Zarephath Christian Church. #caringcommunity #communityinvestment #socialimpact Serena Collado

Tiny homes and tiny home villages are finally getting some real traction as shared in this story. We agree, we've been building them for 6+ years now and have built more than 515 #tinyhomesforthehomeless . Like any solution to nearly every problem, they are not perfect. They require focus on the long-term goal of moving everyone into affordable, permanent housing. Tiny home villages require guardrails to make sure that they are focused on residents' needs, and not on any community's potentially cynical goal to "warehouse" the homeless -- out of sight, out of mind. But to the skeptics we would ask, what is the alternative? Building more affordable housing is absolutely the best long-term goal, but it is not a short-term solution to what we have all agreed is a homelessness "emergency." When an ambulance arrives at an emergency room, is the patient immediately taken to the cardiologist or the neurologist? No, they're seen first by the ER doc - the specialist who makes sure they're not going to die right away from their heart attack or stroke; who stabilizes them so that their long-term problem that is often more complex and with unseen underlying issues, can be diagnosed and treated and they can hopefully return to full health. Does an ER doc refuse to treat the heart attack patient because it was caused by untreated high blood pressure? Of course not. The patient is stabilized first, their life is saved, and then further treatment is determined to guide a return to full health. Our homelessness emergency is no different. Let's take a lesson from medical professionals who work to immediately save a patient's life by addressing the most pressing needs first. AND ALSO, let's have a long-term strategy for returning our homeless neighbors to full health. We have laws that guarantee medical care regardless of ability to pay, to ensure that nobody dies in the gutter because they can't afford to go to the hospital. Why do we not see the same value in emergency, transitional shelter with linked supportive services? #warmsafeanddry #tinyhomevillages https://lnkd.in/dHkTXaES

Unreliable power from extreme weather and unstable grid systems is a widespread problem for community health centers, reports the The Associated Press. Since 2018, Direct Relief, a humanitarian aid organization, has helped install rooftop solar and battery storage systems on 19 centers nationwide. There are 48 projects under development in eight states and Puerto Rico, including at five tribal health facilities. Although Direct Relief typically donates medications and supplies to facilities, the increased need for power during disasters is essential for clinics. One of Direct Relief’s partners in New Orleans lost $250,000 of vaccines after Hurricane Ida in 2021. Direct Relief hopes to raise $100 million to fund over 200 additional energy resilience projects across the United States. Advocates for Community Health supports a broad range of policy changes from lessons learned from the pandemic and decades of care provided during times of emergency to improve care delivery into the future. https://hubs.li/Q02CkwJs0 #CHCs #communityhealth #healthcenters #emergencypreparedness #energyresilience #primarycare #healthcare

Check out our latest blog post: The Struggles of Albanian Elderly: Navigating Basic Needs and Isolation Amidst Migration In this blog, we will shed light on the challenges faced by Albanian elderly, who often struggle with basic needs such as food, warmth, medicine, and isolation due to the migration increase. Full post here: https://lnkd.in/gJ5CYjCw #Albania #albaniancommunity #elderlycommunity #Nonprofit #communityaid

"On average, nine out of 10 people in permanent housing remain housed after one year, a success rate Shimkhada attributes to the wraparound services and the program’s philosophy of doing “whatever it takes for as long as it takes” to get and keep people housed..." Learn more about the #SupportiveHousing work we're doing in partnership with Los Angeles County Department of Health Services here: https://buff.ly/3YBciRh #AffordableHousing #HousingForAll #NonProfit