“Safe shelter is a fundamental need for all.”
– Dr. Angela Reddix
According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), access to “safe, quality, affordable housing is one of the most basic and powerful social determinants of health.” Since the neighborhoods in which we live have such an important impact on health and general well-being, Healthy People 2030 focuses in “on improving health and safety in the places where people live, work, learn, and play.”
ARDX partners with federal, state, and local governments, and nonprofit and for-profit organizations to develop and manage policies, systems, and programs that make lasting impacts for all generations. We also participate in research studies that aid in the development and support of programs for health equity.
Case Study
Case-in-Point: Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) play an important role in population health through community revitalization and dedicated support to economically disadvantaged individuals in underserved communities. Funding is used to purchase homes, start businesses, and otherwise invest in communities.
For the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s CDFI Fund, ARDX developed a full Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Clearance Package for a one-time population-based stakeholder survey. The online survey was one component of a study conducted to provide a baseline analysis and gather feedback regarding one of five main programs administered by the CDFI Fund to promote access to capital and to stimulate economic growth in distressed communities—the Bank Enterprise Award (BEA) Program.
An innovative adaptive data collection approach resulted in a response rate of 65% and extremely effective sample representation. Response rates of 90% and 100% were achieved for the multi-strand stakeholder interviews. Comprehensive statistical analyses, coupled with deductive and inductive qualitative data synthesis yielded robust datasets with reliable estimates.
As noted by the CDFI Fund, these studies are instrumental “to assess the effectiveness of the programs in meeting their objectives and to measure the financial, economic, and social impacts on communities, target markets and underserved populations.”
