Take Action Event Archive

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”). We have collected past “Action Alert” notices below, revising links where applicable.

Sign the NSHHC’s Appropriations Letters: Tell Congress to Support Healthy Housing Programs

Advocacy Action. Posted June 10, 2021.

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).

The devastating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have 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. It is now more important than ever to advocate for federal programs that work to protect children and others from housing-related health hazards.

These letters will be circulated to the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate and include funding asks of $175 million for CDC Center for Environmental Health programs, $606 million for HUD Office of Lead Hazard Control and Healthy Homes programs, and $100 million for EPA programs.

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.

You can view the letters and agency program breakdowns here:
CDC letter  |  EPA letter  |  HUD letter 

These letters will be open for signatures through midnight (PT) Monday, June 14, 2021. You can sign either as an organization or an individual.

Sign the letters.

Summer 2021 Virtual Conference on Lead and Healthy Housing (July 12 – 16, 2021)

Education Action. Posted June 1, 2021.

This conference is an excellent opportunity to access over 30 presentations on lead poisoning prevention, lead hazard control, and healthy and safe housing issues. The virtual conference has been pre-approved for 28 hours of CEUs by the National Environmental Health Association. Access to the conference begins July 12 and will be available to registrants through September 30. Registration is now open for $78 a person.
PLUS – Conference registrants will receive free access to an archive of over 65 lead and healthy housing presentations.

If you have any questions about the virtual conference, email the Conference Director, Steve Weil, at weilcm2@verizon.net.

Learn more and register here.

HUD OLHCHH Webinar Series: Equity Through the Built Environment: Healthy Home for Healthy Aging (June 10, 2:00 p.m. ET)

Education Action. Posted June 1, 2021.

Presented by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Lead Hazard Control and Healthy Homes.

Description: Aging at home is the way most older adults would like to spend the later years of their lives. While aging in community may be the almost universal preference, its not always easy, particularly in underserved communities. During this session, Dr. Szanton will examine the challenges and opportunities for aging in community with a specific emphasis on addressing health equity. In addition, she will talk about the CAPABLE program, a peer-reviewed approach that focuses on what matters to most low income older adults in their own home. CAPABLE addresses the barriers older adults face, with skill development, occupational therapy and nursing assessment and planning, home repair and environmental modification.

Presenters: Sarah L. Szanton, PhD, ANP, FAAN; and Patricia M. Davidson, Health Equity and Social Justice Endowed Professor, Director, Center on Innovative Care in Aging, Johns Hopkins School of Nursing.

Register here. | Watch here.

HUD OLHCHH Webinar Series: Cross-Sector Partnering Towards Holistic Housing, with the Green & Healthy Homes Initiative (GHHI) (June 8, 2:00 p.m. ET)

Education Action. Posted June 1, 2021.

Presented by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Lead Hazard Control and Healthy Homes; panel selected by the Green & Healthy Homes Initiative.

Description: This session will feature three innovative cross-sector partners working with the Green and Healthy Homes Initiative to support sustainable funding and service delivery of holistic housing health and energy interventions and advance racial and environmental justice.

Presenters: Ruth Ann Norton, President and CEO, Green & Healthy Homes Initiative; Kate Sommerfeld,
President, National Social Determinants of Health, ProMedica; Chris Coll, New York State Energy Research and Development Authority; and Peggy Shephard, Co-Founder and Executive Director, WE ACT for Environmental Justice.

Register here. | Watch here.

Webinar: Building Green – Making Affordable Housing More Affordable (June 3, 4:00 p.m. ET)

Education Action. Posted June 1, 2021.

Presented by the Connecticut Green Building Council; sponsored by Pella.

Description: Better quality. High performance. Healthy housing. High standard. Are these words that come to mind when you think of affordable housing? If not, this webinar will help you understand why they should be. Join this webinar for a deep dive into Willow Creek Phases I & II, an urban, LEED Gold-certified affordable housing development in the Blue Hills neighborhood of Hartford, CT. The redevelopment of the inefficient and decrepit 1950s barrack-style housing project, Bowles Park, is aimed at enhancing the quality of life for mixed-income residents through the incorporation of green building design measures. Driven by funding source goals and increased developer awareness, green building design raises the bar for affordable developments. The green-affordable duo delivers healthy, efficient and low-utility, low-maintenance housing; minimizing the impact to the local ecosystem, and strengthening community through contextually appropriate and truly affordable housing.

Presenters: Laura Crosskey, Crosskey Architects; Michael Weissbrod, Crosskey Architects; Karla Butterfield, Steven Winter Associates; and Mark Gendron, Acorn Consulting Engineers.

Register here. | Watch here.

HUD OLHCHH Webinar Series: Natural Allies: Partnering to Improve Health and the Environment Through Housing (June 1, 11:00 a.m. ET)

Education Action. Posted June 1, 2021.

Presented by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Lead Hazard Control and Healthy Homes with panelists selected by the National Center for Healthy Housing.

Description: This session will explore the reasons why housing is often left out of conversations about improving our environment, what we can do about it, and why it matters for healthy housing. Major environmental groups have robust agendas related to climate change, clean water, and air quality but, despite these common interests, are not often in conversation or partnership with healthy housing practitioners. The panelists will identify opportunities for increased collaboration and discuss why it is essential for advancing common goals related to the environment, healthy housing, health, and equity.

Presenters: Amanda Reddy, MS, Executive Director, National Center for Healthy Housing (NCHH); Dan Chu, MS, Executive Director, Sierra Club Foundation; Surili Sutaria Patel, MS, Vice President, Metropolitan Group; and Tom Neltner, JD, CHMM, Chemicals Policy Director, Environmental Defense Fund.

Register here. | Watch here.

Tell Congress to Support Infrastructure Funding for Lead Paint and Healthy Homes

Advocacy Action. Posted April 30, 2021.

Within the last month, HUD Secretary Marcia Fudge and CDC Director Rochelle Walensky have confirmed, respectively, that housing is infrastructure and that racism is a public health threat. Taken together, these statements accurate summarize the crisis of lead poisoning and other housing-related illness in this country and highlight an important key to the way forward.

For most Americans, home provides security and shelter, but homes that are poorly constructed or maintained can significantly impact the health and safety of residents. An estimated 35 million U.S. homes have one or more health or safety hazards that can cause significant illness, injury, and even death; but these risks are not equally distributed across the nation. For example, Black Americans are nearly twice as likely to live in homes with severe physical problems when compared to the general population, and these disparities in housing quality drive and exacerbate disparities in health outcomes. As a result, 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 National Center for Healthy Housing is asking Congress to make a down payment on finishing the fight to end childhood lead poisoning while simultaneously increasing the energy efficiency of 3.1 million homes, creating jobs, improving home values, lowering utility bills for families in lower socioeconomic positions, and correcting other critical health and safety hazards. Join us by signing this letter today, setting us on a path to protect millions of Americans and generate $26.4 billion in benefits related to lead poisoning prevention alone. The co-benefits of energy efficiency and other health outcomes will yield billions more and address several longstanding environmental justice issues.

Deadline to sign: May 7, 2021.

Asthma and Allergy Awareness Month

Education Action. Posted April 30, 2021.

May is Asthma and Allergy Awareness Month! All month long, the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America (AAFA) will be raising awareness to help dispel myths about asthma and allergies, with a planned 31 days of action to raise asthma and allergy awareness.

Social media resources: AAFA’s social tools webpage includes links to shareable images and tweets that can be shared and used throughout the month, along with asthma, allergy, and food allergy fact sheets (all PDF).

Notable activities scheduled for the first week of May:

Tell Your Representative to Support Elder Falls Prevention

Advocacy Action. Posted April 21, 2021.

Rep. Joseph Morelle’s office is circulating a “Dear Colleague” letter to support FY22 Elder Falls Prevention. The letter requests the following funding amounts in the FY22 budget:

  • $16.3 million in funding for Aging Network Support Activities, as authorized by the Supporting Older Americans Act of 2020.
  • $10 million for Administration of Community Living (ACL) falls prevention.
  • $4.1 million for Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) elder falls activities.

Older adult falls are common, costly, and often preventable. They represent the leading cause of preventable death among adults 65 years of age and older. In the United States, about one in four adults (28%) age 65 and older report falling each year. This resulted in nearly 36 million falls in 2018. While not all falls result in an injury, over eight million of those who fell in 2018 reported an injury that required medical treatment or restricted their activity for at least one day. An older adult dies from a fall every 16 minutes.

If you think your representative should support this funding, you can call their office and request that they sign on to this letter. The deadline to do so is April 23, 2021. To locate your representative’s office number and/or website, you can enter your address on this map.

Register for “Innovations and Success Stories in Tribal Healthy Homes Outreach”: A Three-Part Webinar Series

Education Action. Posted April 21, 2021.

Hosted by the Tribal Healthy Homes Network and EPA Region 10, this upcoming webinar series will highlight innovative tribal work in healthy homes outreach. Tribal success stories with outreach will be highlighted in particular through the use of the AirMatters toolkits and partnering with housing, social services, educators, hospital-based programs and more. However, the lessons learned will be of interest to all organizations and communities conducting healthy homes outreach.

The webinars will be held on three consecutive Mondays, beginning April 26 at 10 a.m. AKDT/11 a.m. PDT. Please register for each webinar individually.

  • Monday, April 26, 2021, 10-11 a.m. AKDT/11 a.m.-12 p.m. PDT: Innovations and Success Stories in Tribal Healthy Homes Outreach (Part 1). Featuring Tiffany Lozada, Poarch Band of Creek Indians; EPA R10 Tribal Air Program, and Sydney Janssen – Key Findings from AirMatters Toolkit Evaluation. Register here. 
  • Monday, May 3, 2021, 10-11 a.m. AKDT/11 a.m.-12 p.m. PDT: Innovations and Success Stories in Tribal Healthy Homes Outreach (Part 2). Featuring Brooke Sanderson, Louden Tribal Council; Aileen Gagney, Tulalip Tribes; and Sydney Janssen – Lessons Learned from Healthy Homes Outreach Across 16 Tribal Case Studies. Register here. 
  • Monday, May 10, 2021, 10-11 a.m. AKDT/11 a.m.-12 p.m. PDT: Innovations and Success Stories in Tribal Healthy Homes Outreach (Part 3). Featuring Lucas Bair, Spokane Tribe, and Oxcenia O’Domin, Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium. Register here.

Grant Opportunity from Healthy Babies Bright Futures and the Mayors Innovation Project

Funding Action. Posted April 21, 2021.

Healthy Babies Bright Futures’ Bright Cities program is partnering with the Mayors Innovation Project—an innovative organization that supports mayors through annual meetings, specialized cohorts, and networks, technical assistance, publications, and more—on a grant program ($10,000 awards) open to U.S. city leaders.

COVID-19 dramatically altered the ways we live, work, and play, in part by laying bare the racism and inequality inherent in all of our communities. In response, many cities created rapid response pilots and programs to meet immediate and emerging needs. The 2020 Bright Cities and Mayors Innovation Project (MIP) grant program supported cities’ immediate needs to address COVID-19 with efforts to reduce neurotoxic exposures in pregnant women and babies.

This year, Bright Cities and MIP will provide $10,000 grants to five cities that implement strategies to scale projects that have demonstrated the potential to improve children’s health by reducing exposures to toxins that harm babies’ brain development and reduce health disparities.

Examples of eligible projects are those that:

  • Reduce toxic exposures in public housing and spaces; e.g., toxic-free childcare training and nap mat exchanges; transition to chemical-free turf maintenance; and reducing lead exposures through education and/or remediation projects.
  • Reduce toxic exposures in city purchasing; e.g., environmentally preferable purchasing policies that require products purchased are sustainable and free of neurotoxic chemicals.
  • Reduce toxic exposures in food; e.g., using municipal land for organic produce cultivation, increasing availability of local/organic produce; working collaboratively with residents in low access food areas to develop solutions to the lack of healthy food access.
  • Reduce toxic exposures in outdoor air; e.g., planting of trees and/or vegetative barriers near busy streets to reduce pollutants; transitioning park management strategies to chemical-free methods, and other green infrastructure projects.
    In addition to a $10,000 financial award, the five grant recipients will receive technical assistance, an opportunity to present at a future Mayors Innovation Project meeting, and development and distribution of a case study and blog featuring your project.

Deadline to Apply: May 3, 2021.

Register for Rebuilding Together’s National Rebuilding Month Twitter Chat (April 21, 1:00 p.m. ET)

Education Action. Posted April 13, 2021.

Rebuilding Together is hosting this Twitter chat during National Rebuilding Month. The theme is the connection between our homes and our health.

You can register for the chat and view the questions here.

If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to communications@rebuildingtogether.org. If you are able to attend, please let your followers know on social media using the hashtag #NRMChat2021.

Online Survey for Statewide Asthma Coalition Members

Information Action. Posted April 13, 2021.

Are you a current or former member of a statewide asthma coalition? If yes, your participation in this 10-minute online survey would be appreciated and help strengthen our understanding of how asthma coalitions sustain themselves over time, despite funding cuts. For completing the survey, you will receive a $10 Starbucks gift card, and can access the online survey here.

As background, my name is Gillian Mittelstaedt, and I am a public health and air quality professional, as well as a doctoral candidate at the University of Illinois at Chicago. I am also a former member and chair of a now-dissolved statewide asthma coalition (Washington State). In my dissertation research, I am exploring factors that influence the sustainability of statewide asthma coalitions.

Like many of you, many facets of my career have been shaped by the prevalence of asthma in the U.S., and the pronounced asthma disparities. As a parent of children with asthma, and an asthma advocate, I have directly observed the impact of asthma on personal lives. Your survey response will help strengthen coalition sustainability and provide practice-based insights for coalitions and their backbone organizations.

The survey is completely confidential, meaning that your identity cannot be connected to your survey answers when the data is analyzed, and it is strictly voluntary, so you can opt out at any time.

Begin the survey.

Thank you,
Gillian Mittelstaedt, MPA
DrPH Candidate, University of Illinois at Chicago, School of Public Health
Gmitte2@uic.edu

Lead and Copper Rule: Upcoming Public Listening Sessions and Roundtables

Education/Information Action. Posted April 13, 2021.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced a series of upcoming public listening sessions and roundtables on the Lead and Copper Rule Revisions.

Virtual public listening sessions will be held on April 28, 2021, and May 5, 2021, from 10:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. ET. Those interested in speaking can sign up for a three-minute speaking slot on EPA’s website.

Community-focused virtual roundtables will start in May 2021. The roundtables will facilitate discussion among EPA and local organizations including but not limited to local government entities, public water utilities, community-organized groups, environmental groups, and elected officials.

Virtual roundtables with other important stakeholder groups, including drinking water utilities, intergovernmental associations, environmental organizations, environmental justice organizations, public health organizations, and consumer associations, will start in June 2021.

EPA requests that communities or organizations that would like to be considered for a community-focused or stakeholder roundtable submit a nomination letter to the Agency not later than April 23, 2021. For details on what should be included in the nomination letters, meeting materials, and for additional event details visit EPA’s Safe Water site.

Members of the public that are unable to attend any of the events will be able to submit comments via the docket (Docket ID: EPA-HQ-OW-2021-0255) until June 30, 2021.

National Public Health Week Twitter Chat

Education Action. Posted April 7, 2021.

Wednesday, April 7, 2021, at 2:00 p.m. ET

Follow @NPHW to learn more about the NPHW 2020 Twitter Chat! Use the official hashtag, #NPHWchat, in your tweets so users can easily search for what you and others are saying during the event. Register for the chat.

Questions? Contact nphw@apha.org.

Learn more about National Public Health Week on NPHW.org.

NCHH Webinar: Healthy Homes Guide to Cleaning and Disinfection: Key Messages (April 7, 3:00 p.m. ET)

Education Action. Posted April 1, 2021.

This webinar accompanies the recent release of the Healthy Homes Guide to Cleaning and Disinfection from the National Center for Healthy Housing and the National Environmental Health Association. Speakers will cover the basics of how cleaning works, how to use products safely, how to protect yourself from COVID-19 (including hand hygiene, PPE, and ventilation), and provide key messages for cleaning in homes, childcare settings, and facilities.

This webinar is intended for members of the public and environmental health workforce who need to pass on key messages to their audiences, as well as anyone interested in tips for cleaning in their home, childcare, or other facility. This webinar will be recorded.

Speakers: Robert W. Powitz, PhD, MPH, RS, DLAAS, R.W. Powitz & Associates, PC; Therese Pilonetti, REHS, CP-FS, Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment School, Child Care SME Team Lead and Institutions Unit Manager; and Hester Paul, MS, National Director, Eco-Healthy Child Care®, Chiuldren’s Environmental Health Network.

Register here. | Watch here.

For more information about safe cleaning, you can also check out two recent blogs from NCHH: Making the Most of Your Spring Cleaning and Clean Up Your Cleaning Routine.

HUD OLHCHH Webinar: Life Course and Socioecological Perspectives on Housing as a Public Health Matter (April 6, 2:00 p.m. ET)

HUD’s Office of Lead Hazard Control and Healthy Homes is offering this webinar for National Public Health Week. This session will examine implications of housing for public health through both the life course and socioecological perspectives, demonstrating why housing access and quality should be considered at every stage of life and at the individual, family, community and policy levels.

Target Audience: Stakeholders; including, housing educators, healthcare professionals, community action agencies, state health department staff, and others.

Presenter: David Buys, PhD, MSPH, CPH, FGSA, Healthy Homes Partnership, USDA Extension, a national network of university-based educators funded by OLHCHH.

Register here. | Watch here.

Register for GHHI’s 2020 “Maryland Virtual Lead Symposium: Session Two” (July 22, 4:00 p.m. ET)

Education Action. Posted July 17, 2020.

The Green & Healthy Homes Initiative is a nonprofit organization that works to bring community leaders, policymakers, strategists and advocates from diverse communities together to engage and educate the public on new lead laws, foster prevention initiatives, and generate new resources to end childhood lead poisoning.

The Maryland Virtual Lead Symposium (Wednesday, July 22, 2020 from 4:00-5:30 p.m. ET) will increase awareness of lead prevention efforts and resources through regional collaboration and education sessions. During this session, panelists will speak about topics at the intersection of health and housing in Maryland including lead poisoning, the impact of COVID-19, and why housing is an important social determinant of health. GHHI’s Lead Symposium is an opportunity to learn, grow, and work together to address lead poisoning and the resulting racial, economic, and health disparities that impact our communities.

For any questions about the 2020 Maryland Virtual Lead Symposium session two, contact Chevelle Bash, Outreach and Education Manager, at cbash@ghhi.org or call 443-842-5715.

Wednesday, July 22, 4:00-5:30 p.m. ET: Maryland Virtual Lead Symposium, Session Two.

Register here.

Register for “Legal Levers for Health Equity in Housing: Creating Equitable, Diverse Neighborhoods and Communities,” a Webinar from the Center for Public Health Law Research, NLIHC, and NCHH (July 23)

Education Action. Posted July 17, 2020.

The housing system extends beyond the four walls of an individual’s home. In Creating Equitable, Diverse Neighborhoods and Communities, the first webinar in a three-part series (collectively titled Legal Levers for Health Equity in Housing), presenters from the Temple University Center for Public Health Law Research, Oak Park Regional Housing Center, and the Inclusive Communities Project will define the concept of health equity in housing, particularly as it relates to creating communities that are equitable and diverse. They will examine strategies to achieve this goal by introducing a case study on Oak Park, Illinois, and discussing housing mobility and the role research and evaluation play in supporting that goal.

This series explores the goal of health equity in housing through the lens of laws, policies, and other legal mechanisms to understand how those “levers” may support broad-reaching systems change to establish access to safe, affordable housing in richly diverse and supportive neighborhoods. The series is co-sponsored by the National Center for Healthy Housing, the National Low Income Housing Coalition, and the Center for Public Health Law Research at Temple University’s Beasley School of Law.

Thursday, July 23, 12:00-1:00 p.m. ET: Legal Levers for Health Equity in Housing: Creating Equitable, Diverse Neighborhoods and Communities.

Register here.

Presenters:

  • Scott Burris, Professor and Director, Center for Public Health Law Research at Temple University’s Beasley School of Law
  • Demetria McCain, President, Inclusive Communities Project
  • Athena Williams, Executive Director, Oak Park Regional Housing Center

Register for “Equity Through Public Health Law,” a Web Forum from CDC’s Public Health Law Program and NLAPH (July 23)

Education Action. Posted July 17, 2020.

Health equity is determined by fair access to resources and comparable health outcomes between individuals but is shaped by larger social and political systems. In this web forum, Equity Through Public Health Law, CDC’s Public Health Law Program and the National Leadership Academy for the Public’s Health (NLAPH) examine the foundations of public health law and its relationship to public health equity. Speakers will discuss the scope of laws that impact social determinants of health in a community, covering topics such as regulations for safe food, clean water, healthy housing conditions, pharmaceuticals and chemicals, occupational safety and health, and medical practice.

Participants will engage with the speakers, learn to recognize key principles and procedural rules when exercising public health powers, and gain deeper familiarity with the major laws that shape our health systems.

Thursday, July 23, 2:30-4:00 p.m. ET: Equity Through Public Health Law

Register here.

Join Brooke Lierman, GHHI, and Robin Hood for “The Urgent Need for Safe and Healthy Housing” (June 18)

Education Action. Posted June 18, 2020.

Join GHHI President and CEO Ruth Ann Norton and Robin Hood CEO Wes Moore as they participate with host Brooke Lierman on June 18th at 2:00 PM EST in a discussion on the urgent need for safe and healthy housing during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. The COVID-19 crisis and stay-at-home orders have heightened the focus on the eradication of toxins in homes in low income communities of color as a critical pathway to achieving racial and health equity.

RSVP here.

Register for HUD’s National Healthy Homes Month Webinars (June 23, June 25)

Education Action. Posted June 18, 2020.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Office of Lead Hazard Control and Healthy Homes (OLHCHH) is hosting a series of webinars throughout the month on a variety of healthy homes topics. The target audiences for these informational webinars are a variety of stakeholders and partners. These encompass OLHCHH grantees, federal agencies, healthcare providers, HUD field staff, and others, depending on the topics.

This year, HUD’s theme of “Healthy Housing for All” underlines how the healthy homes model impacts such a wide range of residents. The continuing impact of the COVID-19 virus greatly increases the need for awareness of, and actions around, many indoor environmental health concerns.

June 23, 2:00 p.m. ET: The Longer Term Effectiveness of Home Asthma Interventions.

Register here.

Presenters:

  • David A. Turcotte, ScD, Research Professor, University of Massachusetts Lowell
  • Helen Margellos-Anast, MPH, President, Sinai Urban Health Institute, Sinai Health System, Chicago, Illinois
  • Matthew Perzanowski, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York City

Descriptions:

  • Dr. Turcotte: Asthma has many known indoor environmental triggers including dust, pests, smoke, and mold, as evidenced by the 25 million people in the U.S. population who have asthma. We conducted a HUD-funded multifaceted home environmental intervention projects with older adults in diverse low-income households. Our results provide significant evidence that these interventions work to improve environmental quality and health of this population with asthma over a one-year follow-up. We will describe the results from the initial intervention studies and the change from the end of the initial intervention to baseline assessment of the follow-up study.
  • Ms. Helen Margellos-Anas: Low-income and minority adults and children experience a disproportionate burden of asthma and associated poor health outcomes. Previous research supports that community health worker (CHW) led healthy homes interventions improve asthma outcomes amongst pediatric populations, however, there has been less research on the effectiveness of these programs with adults or on the longer-term effectiveness of interventions, a key consideration when quantifying economic impact. This webinar features findings from the Helping Chicago’s Westside Adults Breathe and Thrive HCWABT Maintenance Phase (HCWABT II) trial. The HCWABT II trial is the first study to examine the long-term effectiveness of CHW interventions for adults with poorly controlled asthma.
  • Mr. Matthew Perzanowski: He will focus on sustained environmental interventions to reduce asthma morbidity in low-income urban settings. Exposure to fungi (mold) and domestic allergens from mice and cockroaches are known triggers of asthma exacerbations. Thus, these are important targets for interventions to reduce asthma morbidity; however, sustained reduction in exposure is challenging. Columbia University, the Little Sisters of Assumption Family Health Service and the New York Academy of Medicine recently conducted an intervention study to evaluate established cost-effective methods for preventing and controlling fungi and excess moisture in the homes of children with asthma. The study focused on the East Harlem neighborhood of New York City, a low-income, primarily Latino neighborhood with high asthma prevalence. The need for urban policy interventions to assist families in sustained reduction of asthma triggers will also be discussed.

June 25, 2:00 p.m. ET: Interventions to Help Seniors Safely Age in Place

Register here.

Presenters: Jill V. Breysse, MHS, CIH, Project Manager, National Center for Healthy Housing, Columbia, MD; and Susan (Susy) L. Stark, PhD, OTR/L, FAOTA, Associate Professor of Occupational Therapy, Neurology and Social Work, Washington University, St. Louis, MO.

Descriptions:

  • Ms. Breysse: The NCHH was funded to replicate the Johns Hopkins University CAPABLE model, a client-centered, home-based, integrated set of interventions utilizing an occupational therapist, a registered nurse, and a home repair professional to improve older adults’ mobility, functionality, and capacity to safely age in place. The ultimate goals of the Aging Gracefully project was to increase elderly residents’ control over their physical function and improve their housing conditions so they can remain in their homes and move more independently and safely inside and outside their homes. NCHH evaluated whether the CAPABLE could be successful in four diverse communities with different types of implementation organizations, housing stocks, and clients of varying backgrounds.
  • Dr. Starke: Community dwelling older adults with chronic health conditions face functional decline that impacts their ability to live independently. They are more likely to require assistance performing their daily activities and are at a substantially greater risk of falling. Compensating for impairments with environmental support and self-management strategies can lessen the impact of functional decline, reduce the risk of falling and reduce the demand on health systems and caregivers. Dr. Stark’s clinical translational research seeks to develop and test the efficacy and effectiveness of compensatory interventions aimed at improving an older adults ability to age at home safely, elucidate their mechanism of action and implement programs to improve health outcomes.

Register for the 2020 #NHHMchat on Twitter (June 24)

Education Action. Posted June 18, 2020.

The National Center for Healthy Housing (NCHH) is hosting a Twitter chat for National Healthy Homes Month on Wednesday, June 24, 2020, from 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. ET (11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. PT).

Register for the #NHHMchat here. | View the Wakelet chat archive

Description: The 2020 #NHHMchat is an opportunity to exchange ideas, spread awareness, and inspire action on home hazard prevention and the implementation of effective healthy homes policies. The #NHHMchat aims to accomplish the following:

  1. Raise awareness of the importance of home assessments and their impact on health.
  2. Discuss available resources for local government, communities, property owners, and residents.
  3. Encourage strategic partnerships, regulatory action, and policies that promote healthy homes and lead poisoning prevention.
  4. Recap and collect all of the great healthy homes learning opportunities and resources shared throughout National Healthy Homes Month.

There are two ways to participate. The first is to RSVP here, which will get you early access to the Twitter chat questions. The second is simply to follow along on June 24 when @NCHH posts questions on Twitter, starting at 2:00 p.m. ET. Share your thoughts and ideas on policies, data, practices, and resources for healthy homes. Be sure to use #NHHMchat in your tweets and retweets, so the chat participants can easily follow you and others during this event.

So get ready to talk about aging in place, asthma, code compliance, COVID-19, energy efficiency, health equity, injury prevention, lead poisoning, pest control, tenants’ rights, tobacco control, and whatever other healthy homes topics you want to shout about on Twitter next Wednesday, June 24!

Watch “After the Smoke Clears,” a New Webinar from the American Public Health Association (June 24)

Education Action. Posted June 18, 2020. Updated July 17, 2020.

Register today for APHA’s webinar, After the Smoke Clears: How Wildfires Impact Our Health, on Wednesday, June 24, 1:00 -2:00 p.m. This webinar will explore how wildfire smoke impacts at-risk communities disproportionately and what advocates are doing to build community resilience. Surili Sutaria Patel will moderate the discussion with these esteemed panelists:

  • Will Barrett, Director of Clean Air Advocacy, American Lung Association in California
  • Wayne Cascio, Director of the Center for Public Health and Environmental Assessment, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
  • Melissa Nootz, Montana Field Organizer, Moms Clean Air Force

Register here | Watch the webinar (YouTube).

Watch “Encouraging Customer-Initiated Lead Service Line Replacement,” a New Webinar from the Lead Service Line Replacement Collaborative (May 27)

Education Action. Posted May 11, 2020. Updated June 18, 2020.

The Lead Service Line Replacement Collaborative has announced the latest webinar in their ongoing series. They’ll present Encouraging Customer-Initiated Lead Service Line Replacement: Two Case Studies on Wednesday, May 27, from 3:00-4:00 p.m. ET.

Register here. | Watch the webinar (Adobe Connect).

Description: Lead service line (LSL) replacement is not a simple task. The Lead Service Line Replacement Collaborative has developed an online toolkit to help communities across the United States develop and implement replacement programs and is hosting a series of webinars to address specific topics related to this work.

This webinar in the Lead Service Line Replacement Collaborative’s series will explore customer-initiated replacement.

An important facet of a comprehensive lead service line (LSL) replacement program is ensuring customers have sufficient incentives to replace their lead pipe. In this webinar, we will feature two public water systems that have proactive programs enabling customers to voluntarily request LSL replacement. These systems have used a variety of tools to encourage LSL replacement, including online, interactive maps; streamlined contractor bidding; waivers of permit fees; grants to subsidize the costs; and education through redevelopment permits. We will also discuss the challenge of balancing participation to minimize health equity disparities.

Speakers and topics:

  • John Deignan with DC Water will present the utility’s decade of experience with customer-initiated LSL replacement with the customer paying for replacement on private property. In 2017-2018, the program had more than 300 replacements annually, up from less than 50 in the first five years of operation.
  • James Steinkrauss with Boston Water and Sewer Commission will share his utility’s experience encouraging customers to participate in a voluntary program to replace the LSL on private property and the impact of a $2,000 grant the utility offers to customers. Since 2016, the utility has replaced roughly 1,100 private LSLs.

Moderators:

  • Stephanie Schlea with Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies
  • Tom Neltner with Environmental Defense Fund

View recordings of the previous Lead Service Line Replacement Collaborative webinars here.

Join the “Cities Are Essential” Campaign

Advocacy Action. Posted May 11, 2020.

The National League of Cities (NLC) has launched an advocacy campaign, Cities Are Essential, to ask Congress for direct economic support for cities, towns, and villages dealing with the COVID-19 crisis. NLC is calling for $500 billion over two years to be split evenly between cities and counties in 2020 and $125 billion for cities only in 2021. You can join the campaign by downloading and sending a letter of support to your member of Congress.

Join NLC’s campaign and send a letter to your member of Congress.

How Have COVID-19 and Social Distancing Affected Your Program?

Information Action. Posted May 11, 2020.

During these challenging times, the National Center for Healthy Housing (NCHH) continues to communicate regularly with congressional offices, despite closures across the Capitol Hill. NCHH has heard from offices that one of the best ways for them to understand the impact of this situation on you as healthy housing practitioners is through stories.

NCHH has created a SurveyMonkey form to collect responses and express to Congress how your work has been impacted by COVID-19. The anecdotes you share will form a broader narrative about what the pandemic has done to the work that supports healthy housing and, more importantly, what we need to do to help mitigate gaps that may have occurred during the shutdown. This information will help NCHH and our partners work with Congress to provide as much support as possible in this vital work.

If you would prefer to remain anonymous when your stories are shared with congressional offices and others, all identifying information (including name, organization, and location) will be removed from your answers.

Share your story.

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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 policy makers 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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