Take Action
Members of the National Safe and Healthy Housing Coalition (NSHHC) receive periodic “Action Alerts” notifying them of current opportunities to learn more about the intersection of health and housing (“Education Action”), secure funding for healthy homes-related activities (“Funding Action”), share information about their experiences working in the healthy homes field (“Information Action”), and advocate for healthy home environments “Advocacy Action”). Recent Action Alerts are listed below. View past Action Alerts here.
Sign the NSHHC’s Appropriations Letters: Tell Congress to Support Healthy Housing Programs
Advocacy Action. Posted November 20, 2023.
The National Safe and Healthy Housing Coalition (NSHHC) is requesting signatures to support appropriation requests and advocate for healthy housing programs at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Across the country, millions of families are living in unhealthy housing conditions, struggling with issues like broken heating and plumbing systems, damaged or leaking roofs, mold, exposed wiring, and toxic chemicals. Overall, 40% of U.S. homes have at least one significant health or safety risk that places American families at risk. Millions of Americans are affected by these issues, including 25 million children and adults with asthma, 590,000 children with elevated blood lead levels, 36,500 older adults who die from falls, 21,000 people who die from radon-related lung cancer, and 400 people who die from unintentional carbon monoxide poisoning each year.
Additionally, access to a safe and healthy home is a racial equity issue; for example, Black Americans are nearly twice as likely to live in homes with severe physical problems when compared to the general population, and Black children are more likely to be exposed to lead, more likely to have and die from asthma, and are at increased risk for injuries at home. The devastating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic further demonstrated the connection between housing quality and health outcomes, how these impacts disproportionately affect specific populations including communities of color and low-income communities, and the necessity of investing in addressing healthy housing hazards and poor housing quality. As the country continues to recover from COVID-19, significant funding is still needed to increase housing affordability and stability, fix substandard housing, and provide innovative, flexible, and equitable services to those impacted by healthy housing hazards.
As of November 17, 2023, funding has been extended for some federal programs until January 19, 2024 (including funding at HUD) and others until February 2, 2024 (including funding at CDC and EPA). As we approach those extension deadlines, Congress will likely be working to finalize an omnibus budget that groups a variety of spending bills into one vote. This letter will be shared with Congressional offices to encourage them to prioritize funding for healthy homes programs in that budget.
Your signature will help to advocate for increased funding for these vital programs that protect children and others from housing-related health hazards and that support healthy housing.
The letter includes requests for level or increased funding of programs that address lead poisoning, indoor air quality, asthma, radon, and other healthy housing issues at HUD, CDC, and EPA. You can view the letters and agency program breakdowns here:
You can view the letters and agency program breakdowns here:
House letter | Senate letter
These letters will be open for signatures through midnight (PT) Wednesday, December 6, 2023. You can sign either as an organization or an individual.
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Get Your State Healthy Housing Profile
The National Center for Healthy Housing is proud to present brand new fact sheets for each of the 50 states, plus Puerto Rico, the District of Columbia, and a sheet for the U.S. as a whole. Each sheet contains a list of healthy housing statistics tailored for the state, including lead poisoning screenings, asthma prevalence rates, radon levels, carbon monoxide deaths, and falls among older adults. Every fact is hyperlinked to a resource providing more information. The sheets also list federal programs currently funding work in each state.
The fact sheets are ideal tool for educating members of Congress and other elected officials about healthy housing issues in your state. Email sarah@nshhcoalition.org if you’d like more information about how we can help you conduct congressional outreach.
Meet Your Member of Congress
Meeting with policymakers is a vital way both to share stories and information and to represent the diversity of interests that make up the healthy housing community.
Use our guide to holding meetings and events with members of Congress, including materials needed to get your meeting request process started.
Good luck with your outreach efforts, and don’t forget to share any pictures on social media so that we can link to you.
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Latest page update: November 20, 2023.