Federal Reserve Bank
of San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank
of San Francisco

Community Development Innovation Review

The Community Development Innovation Review focuses on bridging the gap between theory and practice, from as many viewpoints as possible. The goal of this journal is to promote cross-sector dialogue around a range of emerging issues and related investments that advance economic resilience and mobility for low- and moderate-income communities.

  • Building Community Wealth through Community Resilience

    Johanna Bozuwa and Thomas Hanna

    Climate resilience and adaptation planning efforts often operate within a traditional political economic paradigm focused on risk, including climate risk. Often, these planning exercises do not adequately deal with underlying structural concerns, such as political enfranchisement, economic inequality, racism, and unrestrained growth. These and other problems have not only contributed to anthropogenic climate change, but they have exacerbated its impacts on those most marginalized, including minority and low-income residents.

  • Building on Shared Values to Engage with Mainers on Climate Change

    Elizabeth Rogers, Anna Brown, and Keith Bisson

    Cultivating the adaptive capacity to respond to changing conditions, including economic shocks and stresses, is central to adaptation. As Coastal Enterprises, Inc. (CEI) increases its knowledge and understanding of the economic and environmental implications of climate change, the organization is poised to better assist entrepreneurs in preparing for different climate conditions in their future.

  • Mental Health and Community Development

    This issue of the Community Development Innovation Review is dedicated to the topic of mental health and community development. It advances the healthy communities conversation by explicitly recognizing the relationship between mental health and physical health as well as the role social factors play in both aspects of overall wellbeing. As the World Health Organization (WHO) says, “There is no health without mental health.” As the articles in this issue of the Review reveal, there are profound connections between poverty, place, and poor mental health. Issues like financial insecurity, housing instability, community violence, and limited economic prospects are risk factors for poor mental health—they are also the very same issues that community development seeks to address. In addition, the articles explore emerging themes in the field and their connection to mental health, such as the prevalence of trauma, community resilience in the face of climate change, and the power of arts and culture to engage and activate a community.

  • Community Development and Accountable Communities for Health: New Opportunities for Mental Health Promotion

    Nathaniel Z. Counts and Paul Gionfriddo, Mental Health America

    The community development and health care sectors can partner to improve mental health, and the Accountable Health Communities Model provides a specific example of how to do so. Community development could help to address health-related social needs and promote mental health recovery.

  • Foreword

    Laura Choi

  • Mental Health, Climate Change, and Community Development: Strengthening Core Capabilities to Promote Community Resilience

    Margaret Walkover, University of Hawaii-Manoa; Linda Helland, California Department of Public Health

    This article explains how and why climate-related extreme weather events impact mental health, the restorative relationship between mental health and social capital, and the critical importance of social capital to other disaster-related community investments.

  • Building a Mental, Emotional, and Behavioral Health “Community of Solution” in Rural Colorado

    Jack M. Westfall, Maret Felzien, and Linda Zittleman, High Plains Research Network, University of Colorado Department of Family Medicine

    Learn how a participatory collaboration between the residents, primary care practices, and practice-based researchers led to a “community of solution” working to address mental, emotional, and behavioral health needs in a rural community in Eastern Colorado.

  • Equitable Community Development for Good Mental Health: A Discussion of Economic and Racial Equity in Housing

    Dayna Bowen Matthew, University of Virginia

    This essay summarizes the research that confirms the persistent association between adverse housing conditions and mental health inequity. It also explores the theoretical grounding that supports intervening to disrupt the relationship between poor housing and poor mental health.

  • Arts, Culture, and Community Mental Health

    Jamie Hand, ArtPlace America, Tasha Golden, University of Louisville School of Public Health and Information Sciences

    Creative placemaking has an impact on multiple aspects of mental health, including stigma; trauma; community-level stress, depression, and substance use disorders; and cultural identity. This article describes their relevance to public health and provides examples of initiatives that address them.

  • Catalyzing Community Action for Mental Health and Wellbeing

    Sheila B. Savannah and Larissa J. Estes, Prevention Institute

    Community development approaches, coupled with resident community action, can reach across multiple sectors to measurably influence mental wellbeing at a community level. The field is well positioned to guide partnerships that improve the community determinants of health associated with mental wellbeing.