Training and Capacity Building

Community Healthy Homes Training

The Asthma Regional Council has developed a Healthy Homes Training Program for communities. This training is geared for community-based organizations and other who are interested in learning more about the connections between health and housing, specific hazards and prevention approaches, and the importance of a coordinated approach to addressing multiple public health and housing issues.

The training was piloted in the Spring of 2009 in Springfield, Massachusetts and Bridgeport, Connecticut with an overwhelmingly positive response.  The training was subsequently delivered inWorcester, MA in partnership with the Regional Environmental Council, and in Boston, MA in partnership with the Lead Action Collaborative.

If you are interested in having a Healthy Homes training in your community, please contact Eileen Gunn, Healthy Homes Project Director at 617 451-0049 ext. 537.

Webinar Events

Building Healthy Homes Programs Across New England 2009-10 Webinar Series

ARC initiated a monthly webinar series to feature work going on across the region to develop and promote healthy homes programs.

June 30, 3-4 pm we will feature The National Agenda for Safe and Healthy Housing.

Speaker: Rebecca Morley, Executive Director for the National Center for Healthy Housing. Slide presentation.

Archived Webinars
Below is a listing of previous presentations and archived recordings. To listen and view the recordings you must have Windows Media 9.0 or higher and the GoToMeeting software (Codec) on your PC. Install the GoToMeeting Codec at http://www.gotomeeting.com/codec.

JULY 15 - Maine's Healthy Homes Strategic Planning Efforts and Experience
Speaker: Eric Frohmberg, Manager, Maine Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program at the Maine Department of Health and Human Services. Eric discussed the efforts in Maine to analyze and utilize existing data sets to target healthy homes efforts and build a healthy homes program.

AUGUST 19th - The Case for Smoke-free Housing and Advocacy Efforts in Across New England
Speakers: Amy Helburn, Senior Community Health Associate at the Greater Boston Center for Healthy Communities, a program of Health Resources in Action; Kathleen McCabe, Assistant Director, Public Health Policy and Strategy Center at Health Resources in Action; Amy Olfene, Project Coordinator, Smoke-Free Housing Coalition of Maine. Our speakers discussed their work related to making the economic and public health case for smoke-free housing, , and lessons learned. They also shared national trends and policy options, advocacy and policy efforts in Boston involving landlords and tenants, and the extensive work that has been done in Maine to promote smoke-free housing. For information about Maine's efforts in advance see Smoke-Free Housing Coalition of Maine- www.smokefreeforme.org

SEPTEMBER 16th - An Update on Rhode Island's Healthy Homes Program and Public Outreach Efforts
Speaker: Magaly Angeloni, Deputy Chief, Healthy Homes and Environment Team,
Rhode Island Department of Health. Magaly gave us an update on efforts to integrate single home hazard issues within Rhode Island, shared recent work to determine an indicator for healthy housing, a healthy homes checklist, and outreach materials for the general public. For more information on Rhode Island's Healthy Homes Materials and Five Year Workplan see http://www.health.ri.gov/healthyhousing/

OCTOBER 15th - HUD’s Healthy Homes Strategic Plan
Speaker: Peter Ashley, Director, Policy and Standards Division HUD Office of Healthy Homes and Lead Hazard Control. Peter provided background on the development of HUD's recently published Healthy Homes Strategic Plan and discussed current progress in achieving the stated objectives. He will also provided an overview of how the plan is expected to influence the future direction of Lead Hazard Control programs.

NOVEMBER 17th - Newport Rhode Island's Healthy Resident, Healthy Homes (HRHH): A Housing-Based Asthma Intervention Program
Speakers: Ellen Tohn, Tohn Environmental Strategies and Nancy Sutton, Rhode Island Department of Health.

DECEMBER 17th – Creating, Using and Evaluating Healthy Homes Checklists
Speakers: Amy McLean Salls LAMPP Project Coordinator Connecticut Children's Medical Center; Dave Turcotte, Sc.D. Center for Family, Work, and Community University of Massachusetts Lowell; Christine G. Crocker, Executive Director Maine Indoor Air Quality Council.

Speakers: Molly Brett, Asthma Regional Council, A Program of Health Resources in Action.

MARCH 3rd - Household Exposure to Chemicals from Consumer Products and Building Materials: Lessons Learned 
Speaker: Robin Dodson, Silent Spring Institute. Silent Spring Institute is a unique environmental health research organization founded by a collaboration of scientists and environmental health advocates.  Their innovative research on exposures in the home has greatly expanded the universe of chemical hazards considered in studies of indoor environments. In this webinar, the findings and lessons learned from two of their seminal studies, the Cape Cod Household Exposure Study and the California Household Exposure Study, were shared. The presentation described measurements, exposure pathways, and health effects of volatile and semi-volatile chemicals that are found in indoor environments as a result of building materials, everyday products and legacy contaminants. Exposure reduction strategies that can be promoted by public health agencies and incorporated into our healthy homes programs were also discussed.

Webinar Series: Implementing an Effective Pest Control Program Using Integrated Pest Management
January - February, 2009