Why this Rhode Island company has invested millions in housing
CVS says it’s doing its part to help address basic need
Big companies spending money to help alleviate the Bay Area’s housing crisis is nothing new — looking at you, Facebook, Google and Apple, among others — but those firms are all headquartered in the heart of Silicon
Valley’s crazy real estate market.
So why has Rhode Islandbased CVS Health spent $16.5 million to help fund the creation and preservation of 273 affordable housing units on the other side of the country in Santa Clara, Alameda and Contra Costa counties since 2018?
“The housing crisis exists everywhere,” said Keli Savage, head of Impact Investment Strategy at the big pharmacy chain. adding that regardless of where their headquarters are, 70 percent of the US population lives within three miles of one of the company’s stores. “We’re doing our part to address this basic need that many people are finding as a roadblock in their lives.”
Still, CVS has invested $49.6 million in housing in California since 2018. Nationwide, the company invested $67 million in affordable housing last year.
Housing has a massive impact on people’s health outcomes, making it a clear target for the company’s investment, Savage said.
CVS is also not the only healthcare giant to invest in local housing. In 2018, Oakland-based Kaiser Permanente pledged $200 million for new housing and other low-income residents’ community needs. Earlier this year, Kaiser announced it would help provide housing for 50 homeless residents in Oakland.
In the Bay Area, CVS’ investments include $8.2 million for a housing project on San Jose’s Alum Rock Avenue that will include 70 af
fordable housing units, 32 of which are permanent supportive units for people who were formerly homeless. That’s expected to break ground later this year, Savage said.
Another $6.4 million went to help renovate and preserve The Harrison Hotel, an affordable housing building in downtown Oakland. Within it, 59 units are
for permanent supportive housing units for the homeless. CVS also has invested $1.9 million in Contra Costa County for preservation and renovation of the Pinecrest and Terrace Glen affordable apartment complexes in Antioch.
All the projects are collaborations between private companies like CVS, as well as nonprofit groups and government sources of funding, Savage said.
All housing is critical for people’s health, but permanent supportive housing
like the kind CVS is helping fund helps meet a particularly challenging subset of the chronically homeless population, according to Ray Bramson, chief impact officer at Destination: Home, in San Jose. Cisco in 2018 pledged $50 million to fight homelessness in Silicon Valley, which Destination: Home is distributing.
“We know as a health intervention, it’s something that really works and saves lives long term,” Bramson said.
Permanent supportive housing units generally provide healthcare and social services on-site, helping residents with physical or mental disabilities get medicine, access needed benefits and more. When they’re living on the street, those are the people that tend to rely on visits to the emergency room, so giving them housing can have a huge impact.
“All of a sudden, their access of emergency medical services disappears,” he said.