# Strengthening Community-Driven Safety-Net Interventions to Improve Health and Economic Equity

> **NIH NIH OT2** · ACCESS HEALTH INC · 2024 · $375,000

## Abstract

This project proposes a Sustainable Health Investment Partnership (SHIP), a new employer-
engaged upstream intervention program to reduce health disparities by increasing economic
stability for underemployed and low wage workers through an aligned and integrated countywide
safety-net program. Families earning 135-350% of federal poverty level often experience little to
no gain in net income as wages increase due to loss of public benefits such as Medicaid and are
constrained by numerous barriers to health and economic mobility. The SHIP will be designed
by cross-sector community partners to support workers throughout the continuum from poverty to
financial security by (1) aligning and expanding three local employer-based innovations: Access
Health (health coverage and SDoH impact), Tri-Share Childcare (childcare), and Wheels to Work
(transportation) 2) collaborating with place-based Impact Hubs that target minority and rural
populations 3) providing individualized, trust-based upstream SDOH support, connecting
vulnerable workers to public, private, and community resources to address self-prioritized health
and employment needs. The SHIP will be structured as a wellness plan to allow the collection of
longitudinal data related to workers’ health, social needs, employment metrics, income level, and
benefits eligibility to help create a value proposition for expanding the safety net for low income
families, Participatory research with employers and residents will help understand relevant assets,
causal loops and economic variables to effectively target governmental and organizational policy
changes within our clinical, safety-net, and employer sectors. This project will improve health and
economic stability in low-income households and draw additional individuals into the local
workforce.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 11167933
- **Project number:** 3OT2OD035801-01S1
- **Recipient organization:** ACCESS HEALTH INC
- **Principal Investigator:** Samantha Carol Cornell
- **Activity code:** OT2 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $375,000
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2023-09-22 → 2025-04-07

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/11167933

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 11167933, Strengthening Community-Driven Safety-Net Interventions to Improve Health and Economic Equity (3OT2OD035801-01S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-26 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/11167933. Licensed CC0.

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