UTICA, NY – The COVID pandemic has likely increased environmental health risks as Americans are spending close to 90% of their time indoors. National Healthy Homes Month (NHHM), created by HUD’s Office of Lead Hazard Control and Healthy Homes (OLHCHH), recognizes the importance partnerships, the value of home assessments and the impact awareness can have on a person’s health; and to empower people to make change in order to create the healthiest home possible for themselves and their family.

Easy actions can be taken all month to protect you family:

• Week 1: Learn about the 8 Principles of a Healthy Home

• Week 2: Follow the Healthy Homes Calendar

• Week 3: Conduct a Healthy Homes ‘Do It Yourself’ Assessment

• Week 4: Use the Room by Room Healthy Homes Checklist

• Week 5: Review Hazard Specific Fact Sheets for any issues that are identified

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Learn more about these and other actions you can take to keep your family safer and healthier at: www.leadfreemv.org/healthyhomes.

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CLICK HERE to view the Lead & Coronavirus Fact Sheet and learn more about how to reduce your exposure to lead and Coronavirus.

UTICA, NY – This week, October 25-31, the Lead-Free Mohawk Valley (LFMV) Coalition is observing National Lead Poisoning Prevention Week 2020 to raise awareness about the danger of lead poisoning, educate parents on how to reduce lead risks in their environment, prevent its serious health effects, and learn about the importance of having children tested.  The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention collaborate with local community partners to empower families to take action.

This year’s observance takes on new significance in light of the COVID pandemic with families spending much more time in their homes. Lead can be found in many homes built before 1978, including in drinking water, soil, and lead-based paint. The same health precautions like cleaning frequently touched surfaces, washing your hands, and removing outer clothing and shoes when entering the home can help reduce the risk of exposure to coronavirus and lead poisoning.

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CLICK HERE to view the Lead & Coronavirus Fact Sheet and learn more about how to reduce your exposure to lead and Coronavirus.

The Lead-Free Mohawk Valley Coalition (LFMV) is marking National Healthy Homes Month 2020 in June with an increasing focus on making homes safer and healthier while families follow stay at home recommendations with information available in LFMV’s Coronavirus & Healthy Homes Fact Sheet at leadfreemv.org/factsheets.

The Lead Safe Utica & Utica Healthy Homes Program will address lead paint contamination and other hazards in 180 housing units in the city.  To apply for assistance, eligible families living in the City of Utica can fill out the HomeOwnershipCenter’s Lead Safe Utica intake form at www.unhs.org/lead-safe-utica-intake-form or call 315-724-4197.

In observance of National Lead Poisoning Prevention Week from October 20-26, LFMV is encouraging testing of children and homes, and greater awareness of lead exposure prevention through services offered by our LFMV partners: HomeOwnershipCenter, Legal Services of CNY, and Oneida County Department of Health. CLICK HERE to learn more.

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Every year, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and its partners collaborate on a national outreach. CLICK HERE to learn more about the U.S. Department of HUD, EPA and CDC effort to reduce childhood lead poisoning.

On Tuesday, June 4, Lead-Free Mohawk Valley Coalition partners signed a compact with the Green & Health Homes Initiative (GHHI), establishing Utica-Oneida County as one of 26 designated GHHI sites in the nation.

Oneida County, the City of Utica and other nonprofit partners will work in partnership to form “GHHI Utica-Oneida County,” which will coordinated comprehensive home interventions that address health, safety, lead hazard, energy efficiency and weatherization concerns in eligible housing.

Integrated home interventions will provide the area’s most vulnerable families with access to a full complement of resources to address health and safety hazards in their homes, ensuring the health and well-being of the entire family.

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CLICK HERE to learn more about GHHI Utica-Oneida County. 

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CLICK HERE to watch the GHHI Utica-Oneida County Compact Signing Video

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The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) - Office of Lead Hazard

Control and Healthy Homes is sponsoring National Healthy Homes Month (NHHM) during the month of June. This month-long celebration is centered around the theme "Growing Up Safe and Healthy: 5 Minutes to a Healthy Home," stressing the importance of home assessments and the impact they can have on the health of families.

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The HUD Office of Lead Hazard Control and Healthy Homes recommends keeping homes dry, safe, clean, pest-free, contaminant-free, well-maintained, ventilated, and at an adequate temperature.
 

CLICK HERE to learn more about how to make your home healthier and keep your family safe!

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Lead-Free MV just finished year 3!

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This Anniversary kicks off the Lead-Free MV Coalition's reaffirmation of its commitment to support efforts to reduce lead poisoning risks and environmental health hazards.  Building on the initial commitment of $1M, The Community Foundation will be investing $5M to continue this work for the next decade!

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Coalition members have partnered on more than 20 projects and have contributed more than $500,000 to date in resources to help families and children at risk of lead poisoning. 

CLICK HERE to view the initial 3-years by the numbers!

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Thank you to all Coalition partners and organizations for their time, interest and dedication!

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The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Lead Hazard Reduction (LHR) grant funds will be awarded to the City of Utica for the Lead Safe Utica program, which will be delivered with many of our Coalition partners.

Lead Safe Utica will combine $2,932,078 in HUD Lead-Based Paint Hazard Reduction funds and $600,000 in HUD Healthy Homes Supplemental Funds. Local funding includes $855,652 in lead match and $1,090,272 in leverage funds for a total program budget of $5,478,002.  This funding will produce 180 housing units over the next 3.5 years that are lead-safe, energy efficient and healthy by using the Green and Healthy Homes Initiative (GHHI) delivery model.

We want to recognize our WUHHPP partners who developed a process for integrated housing interventions and will be integral to the implementation and success of this grant with the City: HomeOwnershipCenter, Mohawk Valley Community Action Agency, Oneida County Health Department and Cornell Cooperative Extension Oneida County.

The Lead-Free MV Coalition is pleased to announce the kick-off of National Lead Poisoning Prevention Week 2018. Each year, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and its partners collaborate on a national outreach effort to observe National Lead Poisoning Prevention Week (NLPPW), held this year from October 21-27.

The goal of NLPPW is to bring together families, individuals, community-based organizations, state and local governments and others, to increase lead poisoning prevention awareness and efforts to reduce childhood exposure to lead.

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NLPPW also highlights the many ways parents can reduce children’s exposure to lead in their home environment and prevent its serious health effects. This year’s key themes are:

1. Get the Facts: Find out about the dangers of lead and environmental health hazards.
2. Get Your Home Tested: Find out how to minimize risks of lead exposure using the lead and healthy homes checklists.
3. Get Your Child Tested: A simple blood test can detect lead. Consult a health care provider or local health department for advice on testing children.

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Visit www.leadfreemv.org/lead-poisoning-prevention to learn more.

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) - Office of Lead Hazard Control and Healthy Homes (OLHCHH) is collaborating with the Children’s Environmental Health Network to observe Children’s Environmental Health Day, October 11 and National Lead Poisoning Prevention Week, October 21-27, which shares common goals about protecting children from indoor environmental health hazards.

We encourage our stakeholders to support and participate in Children’s Environmental Health Day, to raise awareness about the importance of clean air and water, safe food and consumer products, and healthy environments to children’s development.

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• Help to raise awareness of the issues among parents, health care professionals, educators, and others charged with safeguarding a child’s welfare.

The CEHN website www.cehn.org offers a range of Resource Materials that you can use.

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) - Office of Lead Hazard Control and Healthy Homes (OLHCHH) is sponsoring National Healthy Homes Month (NHHM) during June 2018. This month-long celebration offers an opportunity to learn more about how to "Check Your Home; Protect Your Family". 

Learn more about how you can make your home healthier and keep your family safer by completing the Everyone Deserves a Safe and Healthy Home - Room by Room Checklist at https://www.hud.gov/sites/documents/CONSUMERS_EDHH.PDF or by downloading the “Healthy Homes Basics” app from Google Play or the iTunes store.

The Community Foundation of Herkimer and Oneida Counties reaffirmed its commitment to reduce childhood lead poisoning yesterday, announcing it will invest $5 million to support Lead-Free MV Coalition’s work over the next decade. Community Foundation President and CEO Alicia Dicks made the announcement at an event marking the second anniversary of the coalition’s inception.
 
“As The Community Foundation’s single largest investment, we are making an unprecedented step forward in fulfilling our role as a community leader and change agent,” said Dicks. 
 
The investment builds on The Community Foundation’s initial commitment of $1 million in January 2016 to launch a coalition that addressed childhood lead poisoning in Oneida and Herkimer counties.

Brookfield Renewable and The Community Foundation of Herkimer & Oneida Counties have recently partnered to make an impact in the community that will help to prevent and address lead poisoning in Herkimer and Oneida counties. 
 
The $10,000 investment from Brookfield Renewable to The Community Foundation supports the Lead-Free MV initiative aimed at addressing childhood lead poisoning on a local level. Oneida County has consistently had one of the highest rates of children with elevated blood lead levels in the state, with rates nearly six times the New York State average. In neighboring Herkimer County, rates also are problematic, with numbers approximately double the state average.

The Community Foundation’s Lead-Free MV Coalition is pleased to announce the kick-off of National Lead Poisoning Prevention Week 2017, October 22–28th, which is designed to raise local awareness about the danger of lead exposure and poisoning, and educate parents on how to reduce exposure to lead in their environment, prevent its serious health effects, and learn about the importance of testing children for lead.

National Lead Poisoning Prevention Week 2017 is a joint initiative of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Office of Lead Hazard Control and Healthy Homes (HUD), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and state and local organizations.

Herkimer HealthNet, in partnership with The Community Foundation of Herkimer & Oneida Counties and the Lead-Free Mohawk Valley Coalition, .has placed four LeadCare II Units in Herkimer and Oneida Counties this year thanks to a grant they received from Excellus BlueCross BlueShield. 

LeadCare II is a point of care finger prick lead testing unit that is a faster and less intrusive process for children and parents compared to a venous draw process. According to the NY State Department of Health in 2014, approximately one-third of children in Herkimer and Oneida Counties were not tested by ages one and two as required by NY State law.     

HUD’s Office of Lead Hazard Control and Healthy Homes (OLHCHH) is sponsoring the second annual National Healthy Homes Month (NHHM) during June 2017. This month-long celebration offers an opportunity to learn more about housing and its impact on health, including the prevention of childhood lead poisoning, residential asthma intervention, radon safety and disaster recovery.

A healthy home is a critical component to preventing childhood lead poisoning. Children eat, drink and breath more frequently than adults and play close to the ground, meaning they are at a higher risk of lead toxicity during these developmental years. Lead can be found in contaminated soil or water; imported toys, pottery or cosmetics; and paint used before 1978.

On Thursday, April 13, the Lead-Free MV Coalition marked the one-year anniversary of its inception with an event that highlighted the past year’s accomplishments and opportunities ahead.

 
The coalition was convened by The Community Foundation of Herkimer & Oneida Counties after announcing a $1 million, three-year commitment in January 2016 to address childhood lead poisoning. Today, the coalition has more than 100 members representing nearly 50 organizations and agencies in Herkimer and Oneida counties. Led by co-chairs Dr. Mark Warfel and David Manzelmann, the coalition is governed by a steering committee and topic-specific work groups.