Updates from the
Rhode Island Alliance for Healthy Homes 
Russ Johnson
Russ Johnson
 
This is a jam-packed newsletter, which means our state is very busy working on healthy, safe and energy efficient homes. Before we dive in, we wanted to offer heartfelt thanks to Russ Johnson, who is leaving Rhode Island Housing to join a development firm in his home town of Newport. Russ has been instrumental in the work of the Alliance, and he will be missed! The wonderful thing about the work we all do is the people we get to work with! We hope you find this newsletter helpful for staying up to date and connected.

-The RIAHH Steering Committee

Stay connected through Twitter and Facebook. New to RIAHH? More information.
RIAHH Action Team Reports

POLICY TEAM: Lead: Building on the work done last year, we continue our exploration of lead programs with the help of 10 Brown University students who are interviewing RI lead centers to understand what materials and services they offer clients and to identify opportunities to obtain more support for their work. Energy: Energy experts from the Policy Team have been working with Betsy to help improve the State Energy Efficiency Plan, overseen by the Energy Efficiency Resources Management Council (EERMC; Betsy represents the residential sector on the Council). Planning for the next three years has begun; contact Betsy with comments. Campaigns: While RIAHH does not lobby or endorse campaigns, we welcome opportunities to offer feedback or networking. At the October meeting, Clean Water Action presented a bill to ban fire retardants in homes (contact  David Gerraughty for more information).  EnergizieRI presented a carbon-pricing bill which is a market-based solution to carbon pollution that will lower emissions while energizing the economy. Rebates from the bill would go to residents and weatherization programs.

RESOURCES COORDINATION: Resource: We are working with DOH to coordinate and augment information provided to home visitors regarding healthy housing resources. Also, thanks to support from Naomi Leipold of United Way, we will hold an evening gathering in January 2016 to showcase current projects addressing healthy homes. If you are interested in planning or presenting, contact Betsy (details TBD). Website: We have a draft RIAHH website, and are looking for designers to make it look professional. Please contact us if you can help!

DATA & EVALUATION: Data Project: to support RI Kids Count's 2016 fact book, the Data team will review housing and relevant indicators and suggest improvements at their December meeting. Data Problem Solving: this team is a resource for all of our healthy housing partners. We wanted to remind you to send us questions about barriers or opportunities you're facing regarding data collection.

WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT: Home Visitors: this team will work with the Resources team to coordinate and improve healthy housing resources for home visitors. Home Performance Professionals: Margarita Robledo and Russ Johnson offered a bi-lingual healthy housing training at the RI Builders Association earlier this fall. More coming soon and let us know if you would like a training at your agency.
In This Issue
Upcoming Events
Upcoming Action Team Meetings. All four action teams will continue to meet this winter; meetings are 90 minutes. See calendar for locations and updates:

Data: 12/3, 3:30pm
DOH, LL Beck Conference Room

 

Policy: 12/11, 9am
10 Davol Square, Suite #001, Providence

 

Resources: 12/15. 4pm-5:30pm, 460 Harris Ave, #102, Providence
 

Housing Resources Commission  quarterly meetings are open to the public. 
Resources

 

The Lead Safe Providence Program has funds available for property owners to reduce lead paint hazards in their homes. Free. Contact CAPP: 401.273.2000.
  

Physicians for Social Responsibility and the ACEE developed a useful fact sheet outlining the link between energy efficiency and health, sometimes referred to as "Non-Energy Benefits."

 

Rhode Island Good Neighbor Energy fund kicks off 30th annual "Warm Thy Neighbor" Campaign, with a goal to raise $500,000 and help 1,250 households who do not qualify for heat assistance programs.

 

EPA's Office of Environmental Justice (OEJ) has released an RFP for the 2016 Environmental Justice Collaborative Problem Solving Program, which supports projects addressing local environmental and/or public health issues within an affected community (due 2/12/2106).  

News
This month, Rhode Island recognized significant progress in our work to end veteran homelessness as part of the Zero: 2016 campaign . Governor Gina Raimondo announced the housing of 163 homeless veterans since January 2015. Along with Rhode Island's Congressional Delegation and other state and city officials, the Governor did a ribbon cutting on Veterans for Tomorrow, 20 new affordable apartments for formerly homeless veterans developed by the Arc of Blackstone Valley. Diligent work continues to reach functional zero for veteran homelessness by the end of this year and chronic homelessness by the end of 2016.
 
On September 14, 2015, Providence Mayor Elorza announced that the City's sustainability plan will be updated in the coming year under the new SustainPVD initiative. The updated plan will include a new citywide greenhouse gas reduction goal and will address the impacts of climate change. To participate, contact the City's Director of Sustainability, Leah Bamberger .

Mayor Elorza also announced EveryHome , "a suite of tools to put local businesses to work rehabilitating and filling every boarded and abandoned property in the City of Providence... EveryHome will withhold vacant properties from tax sales to promote rehabilitation and aligning federal investments with the goals of the initiative."

ConvergenceRI convened experts on childhood health and environmental health at Providence College on October 18 to "build a strategy" to address toxic stress. According to RI Kids Count, "toxic stress" describes adverse experiences in infancy and early childhood that disrupt the developing brain architecture and can lead to permanent changes in learning, behavior and physiology. GHHI President and CEO Ruth Ann Norton pointed out that healthy housing is a critical component of solutions to toxic stress. She joined the expert panel with Elizabeth Burke Bryant (RIKC), Dr. Peter Simon, Ailis Clyne (DOH), Rita Capotosto (Adoption RI), Kevin Bath (Brown University), Panela High (Hasbro Children's Hospital)and Angela Ankoma (DOH and Sankofa).
Data Point of Interest
Cognitive function--how well your brain works--was recently shown to be 101% higher among people in higher quality indoor air, i.e. better air circulation and lower levels of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). 
Join a RIAHH Action Team
All Action Team meetings are a chance for participants to provide input, raise questions from their own work or lives and seek feedback and solutions from the experts on each team.
 
The Action Teams purposes are:
  • Policy: policy analysis, education, case review and support to other's campaigns
  • Data & Evaluation: leverage data to support healthy housing interventions, funding and policy
  • Workforce & Standards: support the development of a stronger healthy housing workforce
  • Resources Coordination: coordinate and communicate about resources (i.e. human, capital or programs) to support healthy housing services
How do we work? Two volunteer co-chairs from the RI healthy housing community run each Action Team, with support from one Alliance Steering Committee member. The Action Teams are focused on accomplishing annual goals and tasks that help drive a results oriented approach to the Alliance's work.  GHHI Rhode Island Outcome Broker Betsy Stubblefield Loucks facilitates meetings and provides technical assistance, research on best practices, and connections to national resources. Each team meets quarterly (90 minutes), with smaller teams meeting as needed in between (calendar ).
Next Newsletter
Have information about healthy housing to share with the 500+ people in the RIAHH community in the next newsletter? Please email  Betsy Stubblefield Loucks.

About the Rhode Island Alliance for Healthy Homes 

The Rhode Island Alliance for Healthy Homes (RIAHH) coordinates the professional healthy housing community to align, braid and coordinate information, resources and services to improve the health, safety, and energy efficiency of all Rhode Island homes. In June of 2013, RIAHH formed as a merger between the Rhode Island Department of Health's Healthy Housing Collaborative, the Rhode Island Housing Resource Commission's Healthy Housing Work Group, and the Green & Healthy Homes Initiative's (GHHI®) Providence Steering Committee. Working at the macro level, RIAHH leads a professional discourse to better understand the negative affects of unhealthy housing, organize healthy housing information, data and networks to better understand and inform the healthy housing market, and develop cross-sector action plans and innovations that results in measurable positive impact.

 

GHHI
The Rhode Island Alliance for Healthy Housing (RIAHH) is a collective impact initiative. Backbone coordination of RIAHH is brought to you by the Green & Healthy Homes Initiative® (GHHI). A national leader in the healthy homes movement, GHHI works to create, implement and advocate for effective solutions to make energy efficient, healthy and lead-safe homes for children, seniors and families. For more information about GHHI, please visit www.ghhi.org