‘Your Green & Healthy Home’ App Debuts during Lead Poisoning Prevention Week to Reduce Home Hazards and Keep Families Healthier
The free tool teaches families how to identify hazards that may make them sick
The Green & Healthy Homes Initiative (GHHI) today announced the release of an important new tool for families, Your Green & Healthy Home app, which will help make homes healthier and safer. The announcement came at a Baltimore event kicking off National Lead Poisoning Prevention Week hosted by GHHI and the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.
The free mobile app teaches families how to identify hazards in the home that may make them sick. During a brief quiz, the app asks users to find signs of health threats like mold, pests, chipped paint or standing water. The app helps families develop a custom roadmap to eliminate risks and offers helpful DIY tips for simple fixes. A family can also use the app to explore a broad range of the services and service providers that already exist in their communities.
“Having easy access to information and resources is powerful. With this app, families can make their indoor environment healthier and safer,” GHHI President and CEO Ruth Ann Norton said. “By improving energy efficiency, addressing environmental health factors that increase health risks and fixing hazards like lead paint, we improve children’s health and increase a parent’s ability to get to work and a student’s ability to get to school, while lowering housing costs. These investments show healthy, safe and energy-efficient housing interventions simply work. And we have the data to prove that.”
The event, which took place at Total Health Care, was co-hosted by the Baltimore-based GHHI, the nation’s largest organization focused on healthy housing, which now is operating in 25 cities. GHHI has worked for three decades to improve living conditions for children, families and seniors by making systemic home improvements that reduce the risks of lead-paint poisoning, asthma and other health hazards.
The Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene commended GHHI’s app and what it can accomplish.
“Marylanders need to be aware of the risks that can lurk in their homes,” said Dr. Howard Haft, Deputy Secretary of Public Health at the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. “A tool that helps residents identify those risks is valuable.”
Your Green & Healthy Homes App is available for free nationwide on IOS and Android. During the initial phase, the app will provide resources for residents of the Baltimore and Washington, D.C. area. Resources in the other GHHI-targeted cities will be available in stages over the next eight months.
About the Green & Healthy Homes Initiative
The Green & Healthy Homes Initiative® (GHHI) is a national nonprofit dedicated to breaking the link between unhealthy housing and unhealthy families. Formerly known as the Coalition to End Childhood Lead Poisoning, GHHI replaces stand-alone intervention programs with an integrated, whole-house approach that produces sustainable, green, healthy and safe homes. As a result, we are improving health, economic and social outcomes for families across the country. GHHI serves as the national model for green and healthy homes interventions and is currently working in Atlanta, Austin, Baltimore, Buffalo, Chicago, Cleveland, Denver, Detroit, Dubuque, Flint, Grand Rapids, Jackson, Lansing, Lewiston Auburn, Marin County, Memphis, New Haven, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Rhode Island, Salt Lake, San Antonio, Springfield, Staten Island and Syracuse. Learn more at www.ghhi.org or follow us @HealthyHousing.