A partnership between the Salinas Public Library and local school districts provided all students with library cards, free of charge and application-free. This simple, yet innovative, change in practice has resulted in more young people reading, engaging in meaningful opportunities, having a safe place to gather, and connecting with their community.

Safe Routes to School (SRTS) Federal funding gives states and localities a resource for programs that make walking and bicycling conditions safer, more accessible, and more convenient for children and their families.

The Boston Indicators Project, initiated in 1997 with its first formal report released in 2000, issues biennial indicator reports with measures of progress in sectors that are directly related to social determinants of health and conditions in Boston's communities that either promote or detract from the health of residents.

Alameda County, California experiences severe disparities in health outcomes and related disparities in education, poverty level, and housing. The depth of these disparities was first documented in the Alameda County Health Status Report (CHSR) 2000, and reiterated in the subsequent 2003 and 2006 Status Reports. Data from the CHSRs have sparked debate among residents and policy makers, and guided the Alameda County Public Health Department leadership to accelerate conversations about broadening the department's efforts to work more closely with community partners to address the social conditions that create health inequities. Funding for this report was provided by Public Health Foundation.

In King County, Washington, the Community Counts Partnership led a community-driven process to select health indicators that reflect the social determinants affecting community members

African Americans in Louisville, Kentucky, as in the rest of the U.S., experience greater health inequities compared to other racial and ethnic groups. This population, in particular, disproportionately experiences illness, violence-related injuries and premature death. In response, the Louisville Metro Department of Public Health and Wellness's Center for Health Equity is tracing the pathway from illness and injury to the community conditions, norms and root factors that lead to poor health and inequity in the first place. By building capacity among historically disenfranchised neighborhoods, CHE is leading an urban movement to promote equal opportunities for health and safety.

Working to reduce violence and crime in South Los Angeles, California, this community-driven, grassroots effort organizes community residents to close neighborhood liquor stores that negatively impact community health and safety.

In California, the West Modesto King Kennedy Neighborhood Collaborative has facilitated a partnership between Heifer International and Project UpLift, an after-school mentoring program.

Through funding from the Federal Office on Violence against Women, the Idaho Coalition against Sexual & Domestic Violence has engaged the public health community--birthing hospitals, pediatricians, OB/GYN, nurses--in the "Four out of Five Babies Go Home to a Safe, Loving Family. Let's Help Number Five" statewide prevention campaign.

The city of Richmond, California was one of the first cities in the country to develop a comprehensive general plan element that addresses the link between public health and community design.