AHEAD
Alignment for Health Equity and Development (AHEAD) is an initiative of the Public Health Institute and The Reinvestment Fund funded by the Kresge Foundation. The intent is to link and leverage public health, health care and community development by working with hospitals, public health agencies, financial institutions, businesses and others to create aligned investments and interventions.
Boston is one of five pilot communities including Portland (OR), Atlanta, Dallas and Detroit. Health Resources in Action is the contact with the lead national entity, Public Health Institute, and acts as the fiscal sponsor for the initiative. Boston Alliance for Community Health (BACH) is the core intermediary.
In Boston we went through an Request For Proposal (RFP) process and chose Codman Square as the focus neighborhood. We are working with the leadership of the Codman Square Neighborhood Development Corporation in partnership with the Codman Square Health Center.
BACH formed a Convergence Work Group of health and community development stakeholders to guide this relatively short community process. Its goal is to identify opportunities to address one or more health inequities that all players can agree upon, and develop metrics to track progress.