Where Housing and Health Come Together to Drive Real Change

The National Center for Housing + Health (NCH+H) is an innovative resource dedicated to advancing the alignment between affordable housing and healthcare. The Center brings together innovations, proven models, and practical strategies and policies that help housing providers, healthcare organizations, policymakers, and community and system leaders work better together — and make a bigger difference for people and communities.

Housing and health are deeply connected. A safe, stable home is the foundation for physical and mental well-being, access to care, and overall life stability. The Center exists to help make that connection work. We do that by making it easier to find what’s working, learn from peers, and put good ideas into action in your own community.

A woman helps an elderly woman using a walker step inside a bright, sunlit home.
Two women sitting on a couch talking, one holding papers and a pen, with a green leafy wall behind them.

We do this through:

  • A living resource hub that showcases new and proven approaches and policies aligning housing and health
  • Practical, real-world learning through virtual and in-person forums, peer learning opportunities, and collaborative discussions
  • Connections and partnerships that bring together housing and healthcare providers, policymakers, funders, and community leaders

Our History

Powered by Decades of Experience

The Center is new but built on a deep foundation of work. The Center is powered by CSH, a national organization that has spent decades pushing the boundaries of housing and health. CSH pioneered partnerships between housing providers and hospitals, helped expand Medicaid coverage to include housing-related services, and developed funding models that have changed how communities approach this work. This experience is the foundation the Center builds and expands from.

Twelve people stand in a row indoors, smiling at the camera, with a painting on the wall behind them.

1991

Founding

Philanthropy seeds housing + health

Backed by Robert Wood Johnson, Pew, and Ford, CSH's 1991 incorporation accelerated the supportive housing field. This early investment established housing as a health strategy and created essential infrastructure for future health–housing models.

1993-1994

Early Models

Cities test health-housing links

San Francisco launched the Health, Housing and Integrated Services Network model (1993) and convened leaders on chronic homelessness and public health (1994). These efforts showed how cities could align health and housing systems, shaping early integrated approaches nationally.

1994-1996

HIV/AIDS

Integrated AIDS housing expands

NYC Housing Preservation & Development underwrote a supportive housing pipeline for AIDS services (1994). California launched the Health, Housing & Integrated Services Network (1996) to deliver integrated care. These models demonstrated housing’s central role in HIV/AIDS and complex‑needs health responses.

1998-2000

Early Data

Managed care tests; early research

Minnesota's managed care supportive housing demonstrated how Medicaid systems could support families needing housing and services. Research on Canon Kip and Lyric Hotel residents (2000) showed measurable health improvements, strengthening the evidence base.

2001-2002

Health Systems

Hospitals join housing partnerships

Support for Saint Vincent Catholic Medical Centers (2001) in New York led to 153 supportive housing units and became a national case study. These early hospital partnerships highlighted how health systems could invest in housing to improve patient outcomes.

2005-2006

Data & Funds

Frequent-user focus; $6M invested

Pioneering of Medicaid Coverage of Housing Related Services via the Home for Good program in MA (2005). NYC's Frequent User Service Enhancement (2005) proves supportive housing reduces costly crisis cycling, and a $6M RWJF award in 2006 expanded multistate innovations.

2010-2011

New Pilots

High-need demos gain support

Project 25 in San Diego (2010) showed supportive housing reduced hospital, ER, and jail use for people with the highest system costs. In 2011, Social Innovation Fund support enabled multi‑city trials with an RCT, and the Chicago Housing & Health study advanced the evidence.

2011-2014

New Financing

Tax credits fund health + housing

CSH's first $25M New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) allocation (2011), enabled health–housing developments like Philadelphia’s 2012 Paseo Verde. LA’s 2014 Flexible Housing Subsidy Pool blended county funding at scale, while HRSA support (2014–17) strengthened health center-housing connections.

2015-2018

New Initiatives

Pay for Success (PFS)

The first national PFS supportive housing initiative launched in Massachusetts expanded Medicaid‑funded housing services statewide. Denver’s 2016 Social Impact Bond further advanced health‑focused PFS models and strengthened evidence for supportive housing.

2022-2026

Implementing Innovations

New Funding + Services Models

WA’s Apple Health & Homes Act (2022) links Medicaid-funded services with new state housing resources. The same year, overdose prevention funding expands harm reduction housing. In 2024, HRSA SURE tests HIV housing interventions in 10 sites.

Our Vision

We envision a future where housing, health, and social supports are fully aligned so that all people, families, and communities can thrive.

A smiling family sits on steps surrounded by moving boxes, looking happy in their new home.

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