For generations, Black and Brown families were denied equal access to many of the systems that create wealth in America. Homeownership. Capital. Quality education. Business ownership. Healthcare. The consequences of those exclusions did not end when the policies changed. They continue to shape who builds wealth, who preserves it, and who is able to pass opportunity to the next generation. Today, conversations about the racial wealth gap often focus on income, jobs, or entrepreneurship. Those factors matter. But one of the most overlooked drivers of economic mobility is health. Connecticut cannot meaningfully close racial wealth gaps while ignoring the health disparities that continue to affect Black and Brown communities across our state. That may sound like a healthcare issue. It is also an economic development issue. Philip Rigueur When a family is burdened by chronic illness, preventable disease, untreated mental health challenges, or rising medical costs, resources that could be used for homeownership, education, savings, or entrepreneurship are redirected toward survival. A single health crisis can erase years of financial progress. For communities that have historically faced barriers to wealth-building, those setbacks compound across generations. Too often, we treat healthcare, education, and economic development as separate challenges. We fund them separately, measure them separately, and debate them separately. Then we wonder why progress on economic mobility remains uneven.The reality is that these issues are deeply interconnected. Before joining ConnCORP, I spent years working in the healthcare sector. What I learned during that time fundamentally changed how I think about economic development and economic justice. I saw firsthand that a person’s health often predicts their economic future just as much as their resume. Families burdened by chronic illness, medical debt, untreated mental health conditions, or limited access to care face challenges that extend far beyond the doctor’s office. Health influences whether a student can succeed in school. It affects whether a parent can maintain steady employment. It shapes whether a family can save money, purchase a home, start a business, or invest for the future. The consequences compound. Across Connecticut, many of the communities facing the greatest economic challenges also experience poorer health outcomes, lower homeownership rates, lower educational attainment, and shorter life expectancies. These patterns are not random. They are the result of decades of unequal access to opportunity. In fact, if you tell me a community’s homeownership rate, I can often make a reasonable prediction about educational outcomes, civic participation, and even life expectancy. The indicators move together because they are connected by the same underlying reality: access. Yet we continue treating them as separate problems requiring separate solutions. That approach is limiting our ability to make meaningful progress. If we are serious about creating economic mobility in historically underserved Black and Brown communities, we must start recognizing health as an economic development strategy. For generations, many families were told that hard work alone would create economic opportunity. Hard work remains important. But in today’s economy, wealth is increasingly built through ownership, investment, and assets that compound over time. Health determines whether families are positioned to participate in those systems. A family struggling with preventable health challenges is often forced to focus on immediate needs rather than long-term wealth creation. Resources that might otherwise support entrepreneurship, education, homeownership, or investment are redirected elsewhere. Healthy families are better positioned to remain employed, pursue education, build businesses, accumulate assets, and pass stability to future generations. That is why I believe generational health is generational wealth. When people hear the term “generational wealth,” they often think about money. But families pass down much more than financial assets. They pass down habits, behaviors, knowledge, and expectations. They pass down approaches to nutrition, preventative care, financial decision-making, and long-term planning. These inheritances may not appear on a balance sheet, but they create value nonetheless. At ConnCORP, our mission is rooted in advancing economic justice and expanding pathways to wealth creation for Black and Brown communities. That work has taught us that wealth is not built through a single intervention. It is built through ecosystems of opportunity. Families need access to quality housing. They need access to education. They need access to healthcare. They need access to ownership and capital. These are not competing priorities. They are mutually reinforcing investments. When those systems work together, opportunity compounds. When they don’t, disparities compound instead. Connecticut has no shortage of conversations about economic development. What we need is a broader understanding of what economic development actually requires. We cannot close the racial wealth gap while ignoring the health conditions that make wealth-building possible in the first place. The question is not whether health affects wealth. The question is whether we are finally willing to treat health equity as an essential part of economic justice. Because healthier communities are not simply healthier. They are more resilient, more prosperous, and better positioned to create opportunity that lasts for generations. Philip Rigueur is president of ConnCORP, the Connecticut Community Outreach Revitalization Program. ...read more read less