Productive Partnerships
Twenty years ago, a small group of grantmakers launched a Health and Environmental Funders Network (HEFN), seeking to bridge health and environmental philanthropy and to focus more attention on links between human, wildlife, and ecosystem health. One of my first tasks as HEFN’s first staffer was to try to engage health funders in this enterprise.
Philanthropy’s Role in Addressing Neighborhood Conditions That Shape Health
From sidewalks to toxic stress, evidence shows where people live has a greater impact on health than medical care, behavior, or genetics. As funders move upstream, there is increased interest in supporting efforts to build healthy places. This scan of the field explores how grantmakers are addressing neighborhood factors that shape health such as housing, community development, the built environment, and transportation.
Clean and Safe Drinking Water: A Cornerstone of Healthy Lives
In California, where our foundation is based, upwards of 1 million residents lack access to clean and safe drinking water in their homes. Their drinking water is contaminated by nitrates from fertilizer, industrial solvents, naturally-occurring arsenic, and other harmful elements.
Healthy Water, Healthy People
When it comes to our health, we tend to take water for granted. But as we have been reminded recently, failures within our fragile water systems can quickly become public health disasters. What is worse is that the people who are hit hardest typically live in our most vulnerable communities.