Meaningful Work & Wealth as a Vital Condition
Personal, family, and community wealth provides the means for healthy, secure lives. That includes good-paying, fulfilling jobs and careers, and financial security that extends across the life span. People’s lives and self-worth flourish when doing productive, rewarding work. The ability to accumulate adequate wealth shapes the living standards not only for individual families and communities, but for generations to come.
The United States is in the midst of the coronavirus crisis that has had a profound effect on the economy and individual work and wealth. No one can predict when the pandemic will end or what the economic picture will look like in the future. What is certain is that most families and communities, especially communities of color and low-income areas, have faced setbacks that could carry through for years, if not generations, to come.
There is hope, however, that new ways of working and thinking about work will spur the United States to look at different approaches to income equality and financial stability, and to make progress to combat and reverse the systemic racism that keeps whole groups of people from achieving economic equity.
Thriving Together: A Springboard for Equitable Recovery & Resilience in Communities Across America
This new report is a joint project of the CDC Foundation and Well Being Trust, coordinated with Community Initiatives and ReThink Health. The report acknowledges that we are now struggling and suffering through profound losses and ghastly experiences of systemic racism. Our resilience and humanity are being tested, yet we have the power to change course together. Communities across the country have an immense reservoir of energy, courage, and imagination. Our best hope for changing course is to organize local and national action around a single, unifying, measurable expectation: All people and places thriving—no exceptions. The report leverages the Vital Conditions for Well-Being framework to provide a "springboard" for communities in recovery and resilience that is imperative to this moment in time. Find the full report and the library of resources and tools coming out of collaborative work to developThriving Together below, and scroll on for more resources to improve meaningful work and wealth in your community.
Thriving Together: A Springboard for Equitable Recovery and Resilience in Communities Across America
Resource - Report
Brought to you by Well Being Trust
Thriving Together: A Springboard for Equitable Recovery and Resilience in Communities Across America
Library
Brought to you by Community Commons
Opportunities to Improve Meaningful Work & Wealth
- Gainful employment and a livable wage
- Promoting wealth building opportunities
- Advancing equitable prosperity for all
- Gainful employment and a livable wage
- Promoting wealth building opportunities
- Advancing equitable prosperity for all
Stories for Inspiration
Explore the stories below to read interesting, engaging content about what is happening at the state, national, and local level to improve meaningful work and wealth.
Peer-to-Peer Mentoring Advances Success for First Generation College Students
Story
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Original
Brought to you by Community Commons
Published on 01/22/2019
Mapping Access to Higher Education in Rural Areas
Story
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Original
Brought to you by Community Commons
Published on 12/15/2016
This Mayor Thinks Basic Income Is the Road Out of Structural Inequality
Story - Written
Brought to you by FC
Profit with a Purpose: Manufacturing Success for Cincinnati’s Second-Chance Citizens
Story - Written
Brought to you by Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland
Data Resources
Explore the data tools below to find data and related resources specifically relevant to meaningful work and wealth.
Opportunity Insights Economic Tracker: Supporting the Recovery from COVID-19
Tool - Data/mapping Tool
Brought to you by Opportunity Nation
Policy Resources
Explore the resources below that outline one or more policies that specifically seek to improve meaningful work and wealth.
The Role of Business in Supporting Meaningful Work and Wealth
Resource - Policy Brief
Brought to you by WIN Network
Published on 02/25/2021
HI-5: Multi-Component Worksite Obesity Prevention
Resource - Policy Brief
Brought to you by AD for Policy and Strategy
HI-5: Earned Income Tax Credits
Resource - Policy Brief
Brought to you by AD for Policy and Strategy
Action & Dialogue Guides
Explore below to find replicable, actionable content that is easily adaptable and/or adoptable as a strategy to improve meaningful work and wealth, as well as dialogue guides and tools for in-person and virtual dialogues.
Communities WIN: A Community Guide for Dialogue and Action
Tool - Toolkit/toolbox
Brought to you by Community Commons
Published on 01/22/2020
Bringing the Vital Conditions to Life: Meaningful Work & Wealth
Story
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Original
Brought to you by Community Commons
Prosperity in American Cities: How Are Residents in Major US Cities Faring on Measures of Financial Stability and Wealth?
Resource
Brought to you by Prosperity Now
About the Vital Conditions
Meaningful Work & Wealth is one of seven “Vital Conditions” that comprise the Vital Conditions for Health and Well-being framework. This is a useful framework for conceptualizing holistic well-being and the Conditions that give rise to it, as well as identifying opportunities to shift those systems and drive transformative community change and improvement. It brings together major determinants of health, exposing how parts of a multi-faceted whole work as a system to produce equitable well-being. Learn more about the framework.
