| An article in U.S. News and World Report, “Safely Aging in Place in Rural America,” discusses the health challenges faced by older Americans as they age in place in rural communities, including issues such as limited access to care, social isolation, and higher rates of chronic illness and poverty. Going forward, providing individually tailored support, connecting to local resources, and offering services via telehealth will be necessary to meet the healthcare needs of America's aging rural population. Read the article here. A new report from the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies says that by 2035, more than one in five people in the US will be aged 65 and older and one in three households will be headed by someone in that age group, according to “Projections and Implications for Housing a Growing Population: Older Adults 2015-2035.” This growth, the report notes, will increase the demand for affordable, accessible housing that is well connected to services far beyond what current supply can meet. Get a copy of the report here. Carsey School of Public Policy at the University of New Hampshire has published a report titled “CDFIs and Online Business Lending: A Review of Recent Progress, Challenges, and Opportunities,” a report about the small business lending marketplace that affects community development lenders. Get the report here. HUD has released “Breaking Down Barriers: Housing, Neighborhoods, and Schools of Opportunity,” a report about the relationship between neighborhoods and schools and the implications for housing policy. Get the report here. The Winter 2016 issue of Cascade from the Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank explores community development capital, resident engagement, anchor institutions, intentional integration in Philadelphia's Mt. Airy neighborhood, building savings and wealth, immigrant integration and economic development, and workforce development. Get the issue here. HUD had released a new CDBG technical assistance product, “How to Use CDBG for Housing Activities.” In this six-module video, HUD explains the kinds of housing activities that can be funded with CDBG, how to use CDBG to meet the housing needs of the community, and the key elements to be considered in housing program design. Access the video modules here. The Democracy Collaborative has introduced the third toolkit in their Hospitals Aligned for Healthy Communities series, developed with support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and designed to help health systems use their hiring, purchasing, and investing power to improve the health and well-being of underserved communities and communities of color. This installment, “Place-based Investing: Creating Sustainable Returns and Strong Communities,” provides hospital and health system leaders with the tools they need to make their investment portfolios work to improve the health of the communities they serve. Access all the toolkits here. Transportation for America has released a new guide that shows gubernatorial administrations how a fresh approach to transportation is fundamental to creating quality jobs and shared prosperity while running an efficient government that gets the greatest benefit from every taxpayer dollar. According to the guide, quality of life, vibrant communities, and transportation choices are no longer simply nice add-ons, they are essential to economic growth and prosperity in communities large and small. Get the guide here. The U.S. Census Bureau released its five-year American Community Survey data with a major focus on rural America. The data shows that people who live in rural areas are more likely to own their own homes, live in their state of birth, and have served in the military than their urban counterparts, according to the latest data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey. Read the press release from the Census Bureau here, and access the data here. An article in the Daily Yonder, “Dynamic Delta Leaders: The Big Role of Small Business,” features the unique challenges and opportunities a rural area like the Delta offers to small business owners. Often the unsung leaders within a community, small business owners provide unique services and value to their communities. Read the article here. The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) has published “How to Do Creative Placemaking: An Action-Oriented Guide to Arts in Community Development.” The book features 28 essays from thought leaders active in arts-based community development as well as 13 case studies of projects funded through the NEA's creative placemaking program, Our Town, and is intended as a primer for those interested in bringing the arts to the community development table as a tool - along with housing, transportation, public health and other sectors - to advance revitalization efforts in an authentic way. Download the pdf of the book from the NEA website here. Housing Assistance Council has published “Soldier’s Home: A Closer Look at the Department of Veteran Affairs’ (VA) Home Loan Program.” The document provides a descriptive analysis of the program between 2005 and 2014, and gives an overview of the VA loan program and its trends, borrowers, and lenders. Click here to get a free copy. “How the Opioid Epidemic Is an Infrastructure Issue” is the title of an article in CityLab that includes an interview with Alan Morgan, the director of the National Rural Health Association, about the connection between housing and infrastructure development and the opioid epidemic. This link has been highlighted by Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack, among others. The interview also includes discussion on potential approaches to this crisis, the disparities between urban and rural areas, and the lack of access to care for rural people. Read the article here. HUD has published “Gentrification,” a 350+ page document in CityScape. The Federal Reserve Banks of Philadelphia and Minneapolis, the New York University (NYU) Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy, and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) jointly convened a research conference, “Research Symposium on Gentrification and Neighborhood Change,” on May 25, 2016, to bring together a set of multidisciplinary researchers to explore gentrification and its effects. Selected papers from that conference are included in this Symposium section of Cityscape. Get the document here. “Access to Care for Rural People with Disabilities Toolkit,” developed by the University of Minnesota Rural Health Research Center, provides information, strategies, and resources to help rural communities improve access to care for people with disabilities. Browse program models and examples and learn how to implement, evaluate, and sustain a program in your community and disseminate program results. Click here to view the materials. An article in Inside Philanthropy, “Which Funders Care About Appalachia and What Are They Up To?” discusses the emergence of the Appalachia Funders Network, a group of over 40 philanthropic organizations banding together to support the "Appalachian Transition." As the coal industry continues to decline, the Network seeks long-term strategies to help revitalize Appalachia and rebuild the region with healthy communities and locally based, sustainable economies. One of the four working groups within the network is the health working group, which focuses on using economic development to address Central Appalachia's health and quality of life issues. Read the piece here. The National Healthy Homes Partnership has announced the availability of two versions of a new guide (one for consumers, one for stakeholders) for healthy homes, “Everyone Deserves a Safe and Healthy Home.” The guides are available on HUD’s website here. The Upper Great Plains Transportation Institute has released a report that looks at the connection between transit and rural livability by conducting surveys and interviews in two rural North Dakota communities: Valley City and Dickinson. Criteria for the survey included rider diversity, trip purpose, transit utilization, transit patronage, service variety, and ease of outreach. Discussion covers several factors of livability including access to quality healthcare. Get the report here. “Health and Health Care for American Indians and Alaska Natives (AIANs)” is the title of an infographic released by the Kaiser Family Foundation that shows the rates of poverty, job security, insurance coverage, and chronic health needs in the American Indian and Alaska Native populations in the United States. Get the infographic and source slides here. The National Association of Development Organizations has published “Measuring Rural Wealth Creation: A Guide for Regional Development Organizations.” The paper presents concepts and samples to assist in the creation of a plan for measuring progress in rural wealth creation for rural development organizations (RDOs) involved in community and economic development. Get the paper here. | 
