![A mother and two young daughters with backpacks hold hands while walking on a sidewalk.](/en/our-vision/focus-areas/healthy-communities-equitable-community-development/_jcr_content/root/container/copy_of_hero_5381126/inserted-image-mobile.coreimg.jpeg/1705692639279/istock-1153974682.jpeg)
![A mother and two young daughters with backpacks hold hands while walking on a sidewalk.](/en/our-vision/focus-areas/healthy-communities-equitable-community-development/_jcr_content/root/container/copy_of_hero_5381126/inserted-image-desktop.coreimg.jpeg/1705692656662/istock-1153974682.jpeg)
Equitable Community Development
Transforming neighborhoods to improve health and wellbeing.
Community development facilitates neighborhood change that enables residents to thrive.
Everyone has dreams for themselves and their families, but not everyone has the same opportunities to make these dreams come true. Laws, social practices, and their legacy have caused some communities to have fewer opportunities than others for jobs, education, lending, and housing. Racial disparities in community conditions and in health, in particular, persist across the United States. But since people created the policies and practices that shape these conditions, we can work together to end them.
Community development is the work of building neighborhood assets to create healthy places that help residents reach their best health and wellbeing—including affordable housing, community facilities for early childhood and health services, local businesses and cultural institutions, and parks and open spaces. The community development sector mobilizes and invests more than $200 billion in public and private resources to improve the quality of life in neighborhoods that historically have been excluded from opportunity.
Through its grants and impact investments, RWJF seeks to ensure that community development capital flows to the places that have long been neglected by investment, and that financing and development decisions center the priorities and solutions of local residents and safeguard against any unintended consequences, such as displacement. This will help make it possible for everyone to achieve their best health and wellbeing.
The community development finance system (infographic)—made up of mission-driven lenders (infographic) that include banks, credit unions, loan funds, and municipal finance agencies, among others—is the main driver of capital for communities that historically have experienced a lack of investment, especially communities of color and those with low incomes.
Featured Initiatives
RWJF funds many initiatives in support of our vision for a Culture of Health. For this area of focus, these initiatives were selected to demonstrate grantmaking that is helping us achieve the greatest impact.
![A daycare teacher playing with a group of young children outside. A daycare teacher playing with a group of young children outside.](/en/our-vision/focus-areas/healthy-communities-equitable-community-development/_jcr_content/root/container/column_control_1286992382/col-6-6-1/card_copy.coreimg.jpeg/1690829056350/rwjfoundationasheville0101.jpeg)
![Street view of a row of houses. Street view of a row of houses.](/en/our-vision/focus-areas/healthy-communities-equitable-community-development/_jcr_content/root/container/column_control_1286992382/col-6-6-2/card_copy.coreimg.jpeg/1690827732945/57c75b600aefc1.jpeg)
![A medical professional talking with a woman holding an infant. A medical professional talking with a woman holding an infant.](/en/our-vision/focus-areas/healthy-communities-equitable-community-development/_jcr_content/root/container/column_control_1286992382/col-6-6-3/card_copy.coreimg.jpeg/1690829711441/273277310-273277312.jpeg)
![A woman riding a bus with a clipboard on her lap. A woman riding a bus with a clipboard on her lap.](/en/our-vision/focus-areas/healthy-communities-equitable-community-development/_jcr_content/root/container/column_control_1286992382/col-6-6-4/card_copy.coreimg.jpeg/1693502231645/rwjf2019-coh-greenville-vanauken-280181.jpeg)
Impact Investments for Community Development
![A chef standing by a restaurant menu printed on a chalkboard. A chef standing by a restaurant menu printed on a chalkboard.](/en/our-vision/focus-areas/healthy-communities-equitable-community-development/_jcr_content/root/container/column_control_115227870/col-6-6-1/card.coreimg.jpeg/1690830024343/santacruzrestaurant.jpeg)
Increasing Lending to Small-Business Owners of Color
![A woman operating a mobile kitchen bus at a farmers market. A woman operating a mobile kitchen bus at a farmers market.](/en/our-vision/focus-areas/healthy-communities-equitable-community-development/_jcr_content/root/container/column_control_115227870/col-6-6-2/card.coreimg.jpeg/1690829355871/rwjf2021-coh-alamosa-widmer-0917-08.jpeg)
Increasing Economic Opportunities—Supporting Financial Institutions
![A happy family ordering at an ice cream counter. A happy family ordering at an ice cream counter.](/en/our-vision/focus-areas/healthy-communities-equitable-community-development/_jcr_content/root/container/column_control_115227870/col-6-6-3/card.coreimg.jpeg/1690829255993/rwjf2019-coh-gonzales-kohanek-12635.jpeg)
Investing in Latino Communities
![Small stores and cars lining a town's main street. Small stores and cars lining a town's main street.](/en/our-vision/focus-areas/healthy-communities-equitable-community-development/_jcr_content/root/container/column_control_1060713620/col-6-6-1/card.coreimg.jpeg/1690829938537/2018-coh-cicero-kohanek-3748.jpeg)
Advancing Financial Inclusion by Strengthening Credit Unions
![A green, fenced-in house on a street corner. A green, fenced-in house on a street corner.](/en/our-vision/focus-areas/healthy-communities-equitable-community-development/_jcr_content/root/container/column_control_1060713620/col-6-6-2/card_144349524.coreimg.jpeg/1690830171157/rwjf2019-kohanek-sanantonio-2699.jpeg)
Investment in Housing, Climate Resilience, and Small Business in Underserved Communities
Resources from Grantees
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![A community leader speaking at a neighborhood gathering. A community leader speaking at a neighborhood gathering.](/en/our-vision/focus-areas/healthy-communities-equitable-community-development/_jcr_content/root/container/column_control_749417853/col-6-6-3/card.coreimg.jpeg/1690830246773/vanaukent-20150802-lawrence-0969.jpeg)
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