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Community Development Finance

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community_development_financeCan community development finance help “bend the cost curve” for health care? That is one of the questions motivating this issue of the Review. In light of the insights and research from the authors in this volume of the Community Development Investment Review, the answer is a resounding yes. The reality is that people who live in supportive, connected, and economically-thriving communities tend to be healthier. Therefore, perhaps the most important contribution that community development finance provides — more than the affordable apartments, more than the startup capital for small businesses, more than the funding for a grocery store, charter school, or day care center — is the larger contribution of a more vibrant and healthier community. In the end, the most important contribution of community development finance may be something we don’t focus on or measure: the billions of dollars of social savings from fewer visits to the emergency room, fewer chronic diseases, and a population more capable of making a contribution as healthy productive citizens.