Photo by Matt Schor
HNLC Co-Chair and MVA Director of Planning and Community Engagement Elisa Friedman, MS (left) and HNLC Chair Freida Outlaw address members of the Nashville Metro Council.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. Members of the Healthy Nashville Leadership Council (HNLC) addressed city leaders in Nashville Thursday night, expressing appreciation that language from their position statement regarding inclusionary zoning was included in a forthcoming city ordinance.
“We’re pleased to see in the ordinance language woven in from HNLC,” Meharry-Vanderbilt Alliance Director of Planning and Community Engagement Elisa Friedman, MS – and the HNLC Co-Chair – said. “We’re in support of any decision that benefits the health impacts of the community.”
The HNLC submitted a position statement at the end of 2015 urging officials developing the Inclusionary Zoning Policy to consider three primary factors: reducing neighborhoods of concentrated poverty, creating mixed income neighborhoods and reducing the number of residents making long commutes to work.
According to HNLC, the relationship between poverty and poor health outcomes is well documented, as is the association between poverty and lower educational attainment, reduced economic opportunity and unemployment. They’re advocating to see the detrimental effects of concentrated poverty reduced through effective housing policies that include the creation of mixed income neighborhoods.
About Healthy Nashville Leadership Council
The Healthy Nashville Leadership Council seeks to improve health and quality of life for those who live, work, learn, worship and play in Nashville. The HNLC is a mayoral appointed body established by Executive Order in 2002 by Mayor Bill Purcell and renewed in 2008 by Mayor Karl Dean. The Council is responsible for assessing the health status and quality of life of Davidson County residents, assessing health systems for essential services, and assessing potential forces of change; and establishing strategic priorities and mobilizing community initiatives to achieve improvements in health.
About the Meharry-Vanderbilt Alliance
Founded in 1999, the Alliance bridges the institutions of Meharry Medical College and Vanderbilt University. Its mission is to enrich learning and advance clinical research by developing and supporting mutually beneficial partnerships between Meharry Medical College, Vanderbilt University and the communities they serve.