Combining Affordable Housing with Supportive Social Services

Safe, affordable housing isn’t just essential for socioeconomic mobility. It’s also a social determinant of health — a condition in the environment that affects a wide range of health outcomes and risks. Capital One seeks opportunities to promote individual well-being by offering services that directly respond to the needs faced by residents including veterans, intergenerational households and those experiencing homelessness.

Households that struggle to pay their rent not only face financial and housing instability but are also at heightened risk for negative health outcomes.

Capital One takes a multi-pronged approach to support the construction of affordable rental housing with on-site health centers, providing health services for residents of existing affordable housing and promoting investment partnerships between developers and the healthcare industry.

Between 2020 and 2021, Capital One provided $550,000 in grants to support the development of housing with health services.

Additionally, we leveraged the B2B Fund to support the emerging needs of low-income older adults for both affordable housing and health services. The fund provides $50,000 grants to developers for two years to cover the costs associated with pre-development. Grantees may also apply for a $500,000 line of credit at below-market interest rates to move the development to closing.

Throughout the 2020 and 2021, B2B Fund awards were targeted to respond to the emerging needs of older adults with low incomes by supporting the development of on-site health centers.

Such developments include:

West Side Federation for Senior and Supportive Housing, New York, NY: This award will support the pre-development costs of new construction of a 104-unit rental property serving older adults with low incomes in the Highbridge section of the Bronx earning less than 50 percent of area median income.

• The development will make affordable health care services readily available through the inclusion of an on-site Federally Qualified Health Center serving Fischer Park residents and the surrounding community.

Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Development Corporation, Cheney Street Apartments, Boston, MA: This award will support the pre-development costs of constructing a 58-unit rental property serving older adults with low- and extremely low-income in Boston.

• The property will include a dedicated 2,800 square feet Alternative Care Center run by Upham’s Corner Health’s Center for Elderly Service, which will be available to residents and eligible older adults in the community.

Neighborhood Housing Services of South Florida, Little Havana Senior Housing, Miami, FL: This award will support the pre-development costs of an 85-unit senior housing development in Little Havana.

• The development addresses health equity and resident care in affordable housing by including a dedicated Community Health Hub offering clinical care for chronic conditions.

Volunteers of America (VOA), New Orleans, LA: Capital One provided a grant to support the provision of on-site health services to residents of existing affordable housing developments. Our healthcare approach addresses social isolation and health disparities for families living in Elysian Courtyards, an affordable housing development financed by Capital One in New Orleans.

• VOA implemented a model that integrates housing, health and social support services. It includes facilitation of access to health insurance, on-site community health workers and digital access to support telehealth services.

Mercy Housing, Denver, CO and San Francisco, CA: Capital One’s grant to Mercy Housing supports health interventions in affordable developments

• In Denver, the grant supports Mercy Housing Mountain Plains’ (MHMP) Health Navigator program. Funding will support in-person services across six affordable housing communities and is estimated to serve approximately 300 residents. On-site health education seminars, clinics and other support will also be prioritized to help residents reconnect and build relationships with care providers.
• In San Francisco, Mercy Housing California (MHC) will offer evidence- based programs to support physical and emotional well-being for low-income and formerly homeless older adults living in affordable housing communities. MHC will expand evidence-based, peer-led health programming including the Chronic Disease Self-Management Program and Diabetes Self-Management Program.

Funding from Capital One also supported the co-investment and partnership between affordable housing and health sectors.

Specifically, Capital One made a grant to NeighborWorks America to support its Health Partner Investment Learning Lab, which will explore regional opportunities to bring additional sources of capital investment for affordable housing and other opportunities to partner.