Environmental
hazards in the home harm millions of children each year. In 1999,
in response to a Congressional Directive over concerns about child
environmental health, the US Department of Housing and Urban Development
(HUD) launched its Healthy Homes Initiative (HHI) to protect children
and their families from housing-related health and safety hazards.
HUD has developed a new
draft Healthy Homes Strategic plan
that lays out the next steps our office will take to advance the
healthy homes agenda nationwide. Please take time to review this
key strategic plan and send your comments to HUD's
Healthy Homes Strategy mailbox.
What's
the Purpose of the Healthy Homes Initiative?
The
Healthy Homes Initiative addresses multiple childhood diseases and
injuries in the home. The Initiative takes a comprehensive approach
to these activities by focusing on housing-related hazards in a
coordinated fashion, rather than addressing a single hazard at a
time. The HHI builds upon HUD's successful Lead Hazard Control programs
to expand its efforts to address a variety of environmental health
and safety concerns including: mold,
lead,
allergens,
asthma, carbon
monoxide, home
safety, pesticides,
and
radon.
Making a Difference: Healthy Homes Grant Activities
HHI
activities focus on researching and demonstrating low-cost, effective
home hazard assessment and intervention methods, as well as on public
education that stresses ways in which communities can mitigate housing-related
hazards. The Healthy
Homes Demonstration
Program
and Healthy
Homes Technical Studies are
HHI's two grant programs. Eligible activities may include:
- Developing
low-cost methods for hazard assessment and intervention
- Evaluating
the effectiveness of interventions
- Building
local capacity to educate residents and mitigate hazards
- Developing
and delivering public-education programs
Participating
in the Healthy Homes Initiative: Eligible Applicants and How to
Apply for an HHI Grant
HHI
grants are awarded to non-profits, for-profit firms, state and local
governments, federally-recognized Indian Tribes and colleges and
universities, located in the United States. Unfortunately, HUD does
not make awards directly to individuals.
Information
about applying for these grants is available at Grants.gov.
NOFAS published in previous years are available at HUD's SuperNOFA
archive.
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