Kaiser Permanente Announces Three Initiatives to Improve Community Health by Tackling Housing Insecurity

OAKLAND, Calif., Jan. 15, 2019 /PRNewswire/ — Kaiser Permanente today unveiled several major initiatives that will improve health outcomes by creating stable housing for vulnerable populations. The initiatives — including seeding a real estate investment in Oakland, anchoring a $100 million national loan fund for affordable housing and kicking off a plan to end homelessness for more than 500 Oakland-area residents — are part of a comprehensive strategy to advance the economic, social and environmental conditions for health in the communities that Kaiser Permanente serves.

At a press conference with Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf and several partners, Kaiser Permanente Chairman and CEO Bernard J. Tysonannounced the first local impact investment from Kaiser Permanente’s $200 million Thriving Communities Fund. Through the Housing for Health Fund — a new joint-equity fund between Enterprise Community Partners, “Enterprise,” and Kaiser Permanente that is for the Bay Area — an approximate $5.2 million has been committed to acquire a 41-unit housing complex in East Oakland, near Kaiser Permanente’s national headquarters.