The Obama Administration and Congress are taking unprecedented steps to promote equitable and sustainable communities. PolicyLink is undertaking a range of activities -- including advocacy, policy development, and technical assistance -- to ensure that this new approach to building sustainable communities takes into account the needs of low-income people and communities of color.

NEW!! PolicyLink Resources for Applying for Sustainable Communities Grants

• See Interagency Partnership for Sustainable Communities page for additional resources.
  

PolicyLink Featured in White House Office of Urban Affairs Newsletter (paragraph excerpted directly from newsletter)

PolicyLink CEO on ”Our Broken Regions - Fixing the Hidden Cause of our Economic Downfall”
PolicyLink CEO Angela Glover Blackwell writes in the Huffington Post on the flawed construction of our communities and the promise of the Sustainable Communities initiative to help regions lay out a smarter, more sustainable, and more inclusive future. The initiative, undertaken by HUD, DOT, and EPA, “tries to think about a community in all of the ways we really live our lives. We aren't just homeowners or renters. We're not just drivers or public transit users. We're not just consumers or sellers. We're all of those things - and our communities should reflect that,” Blackwell writes. More here.

WEBINARS: Sustainable Communities Grants for Equity and Health

To create sustainable communities, equity and health organizations must drive planning and investments in housing, health, environment, transportation, and other infrastructure needs.

The $100 million HUD-DOT-EPA Sustainable Communities Regional Planning grants and the $75 million HUD-DOT Challenge grants are an important new opportunity to make this happen. Click here to see the Notice of Funding Availability recently released. 

The resources from two webinars below will help your organization find out more about the grants and help you engage more effectively in this vital initiative:

Sustainable Communities Grant Program: Opportunities for Public Health Leadership and Healthy Community Design (July 7)

• Click here for the webinar recording.
  
• Ken Smith, (moderator), National Association of City and County Health Officials (powerpoint)
  
• Rajiv Bhatia, Director of Occupational and Environmental Health, San Francisco Department of Public Health (powerpoint)
  
• Karen Nikolai, Hennepin County (Minn.) Community Design Liaison (powerpoint)
  
• Dwayne Marsh, Senior Advisor, HUD Office of Sustainable Housing and Communities (powerpoint)

To view the meeting arhive, which contains more resources, click here.  

Speakers included Rajiv Bhatia, Director of Occupational and Environmental Health, San Francisco Department of Public Health; Karen Nikolai, Hennepin County (Minn.) Community Design Liaison; and Dwayne Marsh, Senior Advisor, HUD Office of Sustainable Housing and Communities.

Sponsored by PolicyLink, the Convergence Partnership, and the National Association of City and County Health Officials (NACCHO).

Sustainable Communities Grant Program: Making Equity in Housing, Transportation, and Jobs the Heart of Your Region’s Application (June 30)

Speakers were Maria Zimmerman, Deputy Director, HUD Office of Sustainable Housing and Communities; Kalima Rose, Director, PolicyLink Center for Infrastructure Equity; and Vu Bang Nguyen, Land Use Coordinator, Urban Habitat.

Click here to find resources from the June 30th webinar on the HUD-DOT-EPA Sustainable Communities Regional and Challenge grants.

This webinar was sponsored by PolicyLink, LISC, National Housing Conference, Reconnecting America, and Smart Growth America.

Other useful information:

Interagency Partnership for Sustainable Communities

Livable Communities Act