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Press Release

$10 Million Fannie Mae Innovation Challenge Selects Five Proposals to Address Affordable Housing and Health

May 21, 2019
Innovative Ideas Offer Solutions that Tackle the Role of Housing in Health Outcomes

Ashley Stoney
202-752-1601

WASHINGTON, DC – Fannie Mae (FNMA/OTCQB) today announced the selection of five innovative ideas to receive contract awards under the Sustainable Communities Innovation Challenge: Healthy Affordable Housing. The Challenge is an open competition seeking innovative ideas that aim to bring affordability and stability to underserved areas and help ensure residents have access to healthy, quality affordable, safe places to call home.

“In underserved communities, affordable housing and health outcomes of residents are inextricably linked. Research shows that poor quality housing can have a direct, negative impact on a person's health,” said Maria Evans, Vice President, Sustainable Communities Partnership and Innovation, Fannie Mae. “The five ideas we have chosen to pursue have the potential to reimagine housing as a prescription for a healthy life. We look forward to supporting these innovative solutions and working with all of the contract awardees.”

Contract Awardees and Their Innovative Ideas

  • Telehealth Tools in Seniors’ Homes to Reduce Hospital Visits: Community Opportunity Fund will bring the Telehealth Intervention Program for Seniors to a large-scale affordable housing community in Newark, NJ. Using telehealth equipment installed in seniors' homes, nurses will measure vital signs, ask health status questions, and intervene as necessary, enabling seniors to stay in their communities, preventing hospitalization and reducing costs.
  • Integrating Healthcare Sector Investments into Affordable Housing Finance: Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) will create an innovative capital funding structure to demonstrate that services that promote health and wellness can be effectively integrated into housing development efforts. The long-term goal is to incentivize hospitals, insurers, and other healthcare partners to invest in affordable housing as a way to improve health outcomes.

Read more about the five contract awardees and their innovative solutions.

Fannie Mae launched its third and final phase of The Challenge, seeking solutions at the intersection of affordable housing, education, and economic mobility. The idea submission window for the third phase closes on May 30, 2019 at 5:00 PM, Pacific Time.  For more information about The Challenge and to apply, please visit FannieMae.com/TheChallenge.

The Sustainable Communities Initiative is an incubator for ideas that identify innovative solutions to address the affordable housing crisis. We strive to connect people with tools, and elevate and amplify ideas, to drive changes in the housing market around healthy, affordable housing and increased access to communities that are sustainable, offering quality education, healthy homes, and well–paying jobs. Sustainable Communities supports pilot programs that are then transitioned to Fannie Mae business units upon success.

Fannie Mae helps make the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage and affordable rental housing possible for millions of Americans. We partner with lenders to create housing opportunities for families across the country. We are driving positive changes in housing finance to make the home buying process easier, while reducing costs and risk. To learn more, visit fanniemae.com and follow us on twitter.com/fanniemae.