MORE GREEN & HEALTHY HOMES
New Capital Region program follows on attention drawn by Breathing Lights
Troy Mayor Patrick Madden, along with Albany Mayor Kathy Sheehan and Schenectady Mayor Gary McCarthy, will help kick off the first regional Green & Healthy Homes Initiative program in the nation later this week.
The Capital Region partnership will join more than 30 cities nationwide working with the Green & Healthy Homes Initiative. Ruth Ann Norton, president and CEO of the national program, will join the mayors at 11 a.m. Thursday at the Capital Region Chamber of Commerce for a compact signing ceremony that will formalize the partnership among the three cities, several nonprofit service providers and the Green & Healthy Homes Initiative to develop housing intervention programs for residents living in energyinefficient, unhealthy and unsafe homes.
The initiative has proven to lower incidents of asthma and lead poisoning, reduce slips and falls in a home and, in the process, enable older adults to live independently and improve families’ ability to thrive.
The Capital Region partnership follows up on the Breathing Lights public art program, which brought together the cities of Albany, Schenectady and Troy over the past two autumns to begin addressing blight, unhealthy housing and the need for neighborhood revitalization. Many of the partners in the Capital Region Green & Healthy Homes Initiative partnership began working together on the Breathing Lights project, streamlining efforts and sharing best practices through that project.
Supported by the Community Foundation for the Greater Capital Region, the Schenectady Foundation, KeyBank, MVP Health Car, and National Grid, the new regional partnership will focus on better health outcomes for children, seniors and families; more efficient use of public investment through improved interagency and municipal coordination; improved energy efficiency for low- and middle-income families; higher quality green jobs; reduced barriers to school attendance and work among families with young children; and support for neighborhood stabilization through more effective and sustainable home investments
The Green & Healthy Homes model has produced consistent positive results nationwide. According to data researched by the group, one in 10 children have asthma, which causes them to miss approximately 14.4 million collective days of school and their parents and guardians to miss an addi-
tional 14.2 million days of work to care for their children. Asthma can be triggered by mold, pests, dust mites, pet hair and dander, tobacco smoke and cleaning chemicals, all of which are present in homes and are responsible for 40 percent of asthma incidents.
Residents of homes that have received coordinated services report reductions in doctor and emergency room visits and hospitalizations due to asthma. They also experience fewer missed days of school and missed days of work.
Also scheduled to attend Thursday’s ceremony and sign the regional compact are Albany County Executive Daniel McCoy, Schenectady County Manager
Kathleen Rooney, Rensselaer County Executive Kathleen Jimino and leaders from the Affordable Housing Partnership for the Capital Region, Better Neighborhoods Inc., Community Loan Fund of the Capital Region, Cornell Cooperative Extension, Schenectady
Foundation, Troy Rehabilitation Improvement Program, local land banks and city and county health departments.
For more information about the Green & Healthy Homes Initiative, visit www.greenandhealthyhomes.org.