Mayor Daniel Rivera and the City of Lawrence, MA, recently participated in an intensive, National League of Cities’ (NLC) problem-solving session on affordable housing and health.

The Mayors’ Institute on Affordable Housing and Health: Advancing City-Level Strategies to Generate Sustainable Solutions took place April 2-4 in Detroit.

The peer-to-peer learning session included dialogue and discussion with six participating teams and leading experts to help strengthen efforts by local officials and community partners to develop and/or augment effective responses and solutions.

“This is another example of Lawrence serving as a model on a national level,” said Mayor Dan Rivera. “Our housing studies and efforts to increase housing stock throughout the city has become a nationwide model. I want to thank our local partners, Lawrence Community Works and our NeighborWorks partners as well as the National League of Cities for including Lawrence in the Mayor’s Institute on Affordable Housing and Health.”

The Lawrence team, led by Mayor Rivera, was composed of Theresa Park, Director, Office of Planning and Development, Vilma Martinez-Dominguez, Community Development Director, Elecia Miller, Mayor’s Health Task Force Coordinator, and Jessica Andors, Executive Director of Lawrence CommunityWorks, the City’s NeighborWorks partner. During their participation, the Lawrence team shared highlights about the state of current city efforts in the creation and preservation of affordable housing as a determining factor in promoting public health and improving health outcomes. The Lawrence team also had the opportunity to hear and learn about best practices from other cities and national experts, which may complement and further