2023 Healthy Housing Mini-Grants: Innovative Strategies to Support Home-Based Child Care Providers

THIS FUNDING OPPORTUNITY HAS CLOSED. MEET THE 2023 INNOVATIVE STRATEGIES GRANTEES BELOW.

In an ongoing effort to help communities pursue and/or implement their project ideas to create financing solutions for home-based child care providers and others to address environmental hazards in child care homes, the National Center for Healthy Housing awarded grants to three communities.

Under this grant initiative, the three communities selected each received a bundled award that included coaching and support over 12 to 16 months, access to a network of national experts to assist grantees in conceptualizing and/or executing their strategy, the opportunity to learn from peer communities and share their own successes and challenges, and a $20,000 grant.

The awarded projects will help communities create and improve solutions to deliver financing to home-based child care providers to address environmental hazards where children learn, play, and reside by developing or implementing a financing strategy that provides funding directly to providers to address lead and/or other environmental hazards including but not limited to mold, pesticides, pests, radon, environmental tobacco smoke, asbestos, harmful chemicals found in household items (e.g., cleaning, sanitizing, and disinfecting products), and carbon monoxide. Specific projects include the development of educational materials and events for home-based child care providers, connecting providers and the families they serve to seek lead testing and financial assistance to eliminate lead dust, lead paint, and lead water in their homes, providing lead inspections and risk assessments, and providing referrals and resources to providers for remediation to help improve healthier childcare environments.

Each project demonstrates a commitment to advancing health equity, defined here as when “everyone has a fair and just opportunity to be healthier,” and racial justice, defined here as “dismantling systems that perpetuate racist policies” that have resulted in dramatic health disparities for communities of color.

The 2023 award recipients received option of a 12- or 16-month project period. Award recipients will complete their proposed activities by May or August 2024, based on their application preference.

The 2023 Grantees

Black Child Development Institute – Ohio, Beachwood, Ohio
Black Child Development Institute – Ohio (BCDI-Ohio), an affiliate of the National Black Child Development Institute, is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to improve and advance the quality of life for Black children and families through education and advocacy. As a statewide organization, BCDI-Ohio’s focus addresses the timely issues affecting black and brown children while educating professionals, parents, and caregivers around the impact issues such as childhood lead poisoning disproportionately impacting black and brown children and families. BCDI-Ohio’s project plans to address removing barriers that lead to health inequities and turning unaffordable costs into opportunities. This project aims to educate child care providers about the dangers of lead poisoning, encourage families that they serve to seek lead testing and gain financial assistance to eliminate lead dust/paint/water in their homes.

Panhandle Public Health District, Scottsbluff, Nebraska
Panhandle Public Health District (PPHD) serves 12 rural counties in the western-most portion of Nebraska. This area encompasses just over 87,000 residents, spread among a land mass of 15,000 square miles. PPHD’s lead program consists of case management for children with elevated blood lead levels. PPHD identifies lead hazards in the home and provides lead poisoning prevention education. PPHD’s goal is protecting children from lead exposure in environments where they eat, play, and live. During this project, PPHD will identify lead hazards in the home by conducting lead inspections and risk assessments and provide referrals/resources for remediation to help improve healthier childcare environments. PPHD also plans to engage an active lead poisoning prevention advisory group that will provide feedback and ideas to ensure that they can meet the need of their community.

Redevelopment Authority of the City of Erie, Erie, Pennsylvania
The Redevelopment Authority of the City of Erie is a fully grant-funded quasi-government agency that provides housing rehabilitation and home health hazard remediation to low- and moderate-income residents of the city of Erie, as well as lead remediation for all of Erie County, as a component of community residential revitalization. They also work to mitigate blight throughout Erie neighborhoods. This project will largely focus on developing educational materials, assessments specific to childcare facilities, and in-home safety resources (such as smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, pest control supplies, HEPA filters, lead tests, cord covers, surge protectors, floor transition strips, and safety gates). The Redevelopment Authority of the City of Erie also plans to host an educational event with in-home childcare practitioners to offer materials and giveaways, to speak at length about their initiative, and to connect providers to other programs for which they may be eligible.

 

Latest page update: November 8, 2023.