Advocacy and Policy Change
The Healthy Homes Coalition partners with like-minded advocates to promote policies that protect children’s health in the home. Healthy Homes advocates at the local, state, and national level. Past successes include numerous state bills, securing a State appropriation for lead hazard control, sustaining and increasing federal funding allocations, and adoption of a single-family rental housing ordinance in the City of Grand Rapids.
The Healthy Homes Coalition employs three key strategies to eliminate harmful housing conditions to improve children’s health and wellbeing: home visits, education and outreach, and advocacy for change. Our advocacy strategy works at all levels and is highly collaborative.
Federal
The Healthy Homes Coalition partners with the National Safe and Healthy Housing Coalition facilitated by the National Center for Healthy Housing. Through these partnerships, the Healthy Homes Coalition has been active and vocal in sustaining federal appropriations for lead and healthy housing programming through HUD, has responded to cuts in the CDC’s childhood lead poisoning program, and has kept an eye on preserving the integrity of the EPA’s Renovation, Repair and Painting rule. Advocacy activities have included meeting with legislators and their staff and mobilizing local partners and constituents for action.
State
The Healthy Homes Coalition is an active member of the Michigan Alliance for Lead-Safe Housing, the group that was successful in securing a renewed $1.25 million investment of State dollars into lead hazard control. Historically the Healthy Homes Coalition has been very active in Lansing, providing testimony to legislators and supporting numerous bills that have been enacted into law to support children’s health. Healthy Homes is also a member of the Michigan Network for Children’s Environmental Health.
Local
The Healthy Homes Coalition partners with local groups to support sound policy, investment and partnership at the local level. Most recently, Healthy Homes successfully partnered with numerous organizations to seek an expansion of the City of Grand Rapids rental certification program to include single-family rental homes. See the report in the Resources section to the right.With Partners
The Healthy Homes Coalition recognizes that solutions come not only from advocating with government, but also in promoting best practices within the non-profit sector. To that end, the Healthy Homes Coalition works with non-profit organizations working in housing, weatherization, early childhood, healthcare and elsewhere to ensure that direct service strategies are promoting children’s health and wellbeing with the utmost efficiency. We believe that collaboration is a key strategy for the non-profit sector to maximize the resources so generously entrusted to us by our supporters.