Montgomery awarded $50,000 Plan for Health grant to integrate health equity into master plan

Montgomery Township officials announced that the municipality received a $50,000 Plan for Health grant, a partnership program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the New Jersey chapter of the American Planning Association.

Assistant municipal staff and the administrator said the award will fund a year‑long planning process to integrate health equity into the township’s master plan. Deliverables include a reexamination report, an updated land‑use plan element, and a new climate‑vulnerability assessment that will be folded into required master‑plan updates. Project work will involve expanded community engagement and is expected to produce inputs for the township’s master‑plan amendments.

Why it matters: township planning staff said the grant funds programs that connect land‑use choices to health outcomes (sidewalks, mobility, housing, open space and climate resilience) and will help Montgomery advance its master plan without drawing substantially on the municipal budget. The administrator said Montgomery was one of six municipalities selected, noting the township previously participated in a university pilot that helped the application.

Timeline and next steps: the grant project has a tight one‑year schedule with final deliverables due in March of the following year; the township will coordinate with Rutgers and state partners and provide multiple public opportunities for input as the planning and vulnerability assessments proceed.

Officials said they will brief the planning board and post a timeline and engagement opportunities on the township website.