This healthcare giant invests millions in affordable housing to keep people healthy

In an East Oakland neighborhood on the verge of gentrification, when an affordable apartment complex went up for sale–and tenants there risked steeply rising rents–Kaiser Permanente, the largest private integrated healthcare system in the U.S., helped put up the money to buy the building and keep rent low.

It’s the first impact investment for the Oakland-based company’s $200 million Thriving Communities Fund, and one of three major projects the company announced today. Along with the nonprofit Enterprise Community Partners, Kaiser created a new joint equity fund called the Housing for Health Fund and contributed $5.2 million to help a local nonprofit, the East Bay Asian Local Development Corporation, purchase the building for $8.7 million.