Metro Housing|Boston is very pleased to honor Boston Medical Center (BMC) with the 2020 Champions of Housing Lowell L. Richards III Award. Boston Medical Center has invested $6.5 million over five years to support a wide range of affordable housing initiatives, in an innovation lab approach that will be studied closely to determine the best ways that health care systems can improve both community and patient level health and reduce medical costs by addressing homelessness and housing insecurity.
The award will be accepted by Kate Walsh, BMC’s President and CEO, and Megan Sandel, MD, a BMC pediatrician and co-director of the Grow Clinic, during the Champions of Housing Celebration on November 4, 2020.
Since 2017, BMC has invested in a diverse group of community partnerships in neighborhoods where many of their patients already live, which enables them and other residents to access a larger pool of stable, affordable housing. Some examples include:
- $1 million for a no-interest loan and a $400,000 operating subsidy to support a new, Good Food Markets in a new housing development in Roxbury. The market’s lease will subsidize affordable rental housing in the Dudley Square development.
- $1 million for a stabilization fund that will provide grants to community-based organizations to help families avoid eviction in and around Boston.
- $1 million to community partners to create a housing stabilization program for individuals with complex medical problems, including substance use disorder.
“BMC has long been on the leading edge of innovation in social determinants of health, and supporting affordable housing is the perfect complement to the medical care we offer at BMC,” said Walsh.
BMC’s $6.5 million investment also represents the first time that a Massachusetts hospital has put all its required community health investment into one social determinant of health – in this case, housing – to satisfy the requirements of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health for a Determination of Need (DON).
For tickets and sponsorship information for Champions of Housing, go to bit.ly/2020COH