Newton-Wellesley Hospital To Give $1.9M Housing Insecurity Grant

NEWTON, MA — Officials at Newton-Wellesley Hospital wants to help solve housing insecurity in communities surrounding the hospital, and is ready to pony up $1.9 million to an organization working to do just that.

The hospital is inviting local nonprofit organizations to submit proposals seeking to address housing insecurity and housing inequities in the communities surrounding the hospital, from Newton to, Needham, Waltham, Wellesley, Weston and Natick.

The hospital said is set to invest $1.9 million in programming designed to address housing insecurity at both an individual level and a policy or systems level, with more than $486,000 in funding available in the first year of the grant and $475,000 available annually for three additional years, through a community-based health initiative grant.

Newton-Wellesley Hospital said it plans to award a single grant to a community-based organization or collaborative of organizations focused on addressing housing insecurity within the hospital's primary service area.

The hospital collaborated with an advisory committee comprised of stakeholders from those communities and identified housing insecurity as a major need.

"There is a well-documented relationship between safe, secure, and affordable housing and health," a spokesperson from the hospital said in a news release. "Individuals facing housing insecurity are more likely to experience poor health than those in stable and secure housing, and numerous studies have documented the relationship between eviction and adverse health and mental health outcomes."

Across the country, and particularly within the hospital's service area, people of color and recent immigrants are far more likely than white and higher-income residents to experience housing insecurity, according to Newton-Wellesley Hospital.

The pandemic exacerbated issues, putting more renters at risk for eviction, reversing recent gains made in addressing racial inequities and exacerbating the negative health-related impacts of housing insecurity, according to the hospital.

The target population for this initiative is individuals or families facing issues of housing insecurity, with a focus on communities of color and immigrant communities. Grant applicants are expected to propose a multi-faceted approach to housing insecurity, including addressing immediate issues, reducing the impact on mental health, and increasing economic independence using a self-sufficiency coaching or mentoring model.

The deadline for submitting proposals is 5 p.m. on Friday, August 6.

A virtual bidder’s conference will be held on Wednesday, July 14, from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. to explain the criteria for proposals and answer questions from interested applicants.

Please visit www.nwh.org/grants to register for the bidder’s conference and to view the complete Request for Proposals.

If you have questions about this grant opportunity, please submit them in writing to NWHgrants@partners.org by Friday, July 16.