Community Development Minute

Did you know that the built environment can influence overall community health and individual behaviors such as physical activity and healthy eating? Well it can!

The CDC defines the built environment as the physical makeup of where we live, learn, work, and play.

The goals of a community development organization include increasing property values, improving housing conditions, and expanding neighborhood infrastructure to benefit residents.

Did you know there is a First Time Home Buyer program that can help you build a new home or renovate an existing one? The First Time Home Buyer program is financed through the City of Little Rock with funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) which supports the development of communities and home ownership.

Did you know that community gardens provide many environmental and social benefits to residents within a community? Well they do! Community gardens help foster benefits including but not limited to: social interactions and engagement with neighbors, increased access to healthy foods, a connection of mind, body, with nature, and contributes to cultivating a thriving community.

Although there is a shortage of affordable rental housing in the United States, the low-income housing tax credit is one way the federal government tries to address the shortage. Do you know how it works?

Since 2009, the Arkansas Coalition for Obesity Prevention (ArCOP), through its Growing Healthy Communities initiative, has helped communities like the University District in Little Rock reduce obesity and improve the health of their residents.

Community Development Corporations, or CDCs for short, work to improve the lives of residents in their communities primarily by developing affordable housing. However, did you know that CDCs can offer other programs and services for the residents of their communities?

The UDDC – the University District Development Corporation — serves the University District which includes the neighborhoods surrounding the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. It has identified health and wellness as one of its programs.