Peer Educators Connect with their Community to Educate Neighbors About Lead
This fall, Healthy Homes is starting a new lead education program to help any local family who wants to learn more about lead, and how to manage lead hazards in their home.
The Healthy Homes Coalition is a proud partner of the Get the Lead Out! program. More than 1,350 homes have had lead hazards abated through this financial assistance program. Click here to learn more.
News & Events
Welcome, Direct Services Staff Member, Hugo Claudin!
Hugo Claudin is the newest full-time staff member in the Healthy Homes direct services department. He will be working directly with families struggling with environmental hazards in their homes, visiting them, making action plans for them, and building relationships with them. Hugo brings a unique perspective and experience to this position. Before coming here, he previously worked for Spectrum Health, LINC, and The Red Project, all in a community health capacity. He is also a well-known artist and musician, and an all-around interesting guy.
Emergency Care Specialists: Helping the Community In and Out of the Hospital
Emergency room visits can become a part of life for the families Healthy Homes serves, especially those families who deal with severe asthma. Of the six million children in the US with asthma, about 1 in 6 will need emergency care. Dealing with the uncertainty of an asthma attack or any emergency can be upsetting and stressful; it’s beyond important to receive care that is trustworthy and helpful.
That’s where care providers like Emergency Care Specialists come in. ECS is a local group physicians, emergency medicine residents, physician assistants, and nurse practitioners who provide emergency care to patients in West Michigan.
Healthy Homes
Coalition of West Michigan
Our mission is to improve children's health and wellbeing by eliminating harmful housing conditions. We achieve that mission through policy and advocacy, outreach and education, direct services, and continuous collaboration.
The Issues:
Lead in Water
In west Michigan, lead in drinking water is rarely identified as the primary route of exposure for children with elevated blood lead levels. While lead exposure through drinking water is possible, EPA-mandated testing results for west Michigan communities consistently report that the lead content in municipal water supplies is below EPA guidelines. In Grand Rapids, the most recent testing results available (2013) report lead levels at an all-time low in Grand Rapids' water.
Recognizing that there have been no major changes to local water programs in west Michigan, the Healthy Homes Coalition's primary concerns with lead in water arise when there is construction activity involving the water system. Most notably, the partial replacement of lead service lines (the line between the street and the home) have proven problematic.