Case Healthy Homes & Patients Program – Swetland Center for Environmental Health 

Preventive reduction of health and safety hazards for newborn and elderly patients of the Case Family Medicine Clinic; education of family medicine residents on housing hazards; home risk assessment and remediation.

o Funding - HUD through December 2011.

City-County Healthy House Project – Cuyahoga County Board of Health 

Preventive reduction of lead and asthma hazards, integrated with weatherization in high-risk housing; group education, home visits, technical assistance; education for home childcare providers.

o Funding – HUD through September March 2013.

Helping Families Manage Asthma- Swetland Center, RB&C, MetroHealth
Home visits, sometimes including the patient's physician, to homes ofchildren recently hospitalized for asthma to help the family manage environmental triggers, medication, exacerbations, health care utilization, and communication with childcare/school. This projects piggy-backs the Case Healthy Homes and Patients Project.
o Funding –Sisters of Charity through September 2010.

Lead Poisoning Primary Prevention – Cuyahoga County Board of Health 
Parent education, follow-up interviews and dust sampling, and database development.
o Funding – Invest in Children through December 2011.

Lead-Safe Cleveland – Cleveland Department of Public Health
Lead safety and lead regulations awareness, compliance assistance and enforcement for landlords. EHW recruits and enrolls homeowners and landlords for the City's lead hazard control grant program. Focusing on working with CMHA to recruit landlords in their Housing Choice Voucher Program. EHW also coordinates lead hazard control training and provides technical assistance for data analysis.
o Funding – HUD through September 2011

Lead Safe Cuyahoga – Cuyahoga County Board of Health
Preventive reduction of lead hazards in high-risk housing; group education, home visits and technical assistance on data management.
o Funding – HUD through September 2010.

Making Health a Consideration in Key Housing Decisions – Multiple Partners
EHW organized and leads a strategic alliance among health and housing organizations to develop and advocate for public and private policy to integrate health considerations in key housing decisions throughout the housing life cycle. "Health considerations" are broadly construed to include accidental injury, accessibility and aging-in-place, energy efficiency, other green criteria, and health promoting and sustainble communities.
o Funding – CDC- Healthy House Strategic Alliance through September 2011.

Mold & Moisture and Children’s Respiratory Health Follow-up – Swetland Center for Environmental Health

Follow-up visual assessment and vacuum dust sampling to evaluate longevity of moisture treatments.
o Funding- HUD through March 2010.

Neighborhood Leadership for Environmental Health- Multiple Partners 

EHW is leading a partnership with the Neighborhood Leadershhip Institute, Earth Day Coalition, and Clean Air Coalition to help residents and community organizations in four eastside Cleveland neighborhoods explore, learn about, prioritize, and take action on environmental health concerns in their communities.
o Funding- EPA CARE through March 2011.

Remote Monitoring of Homes Indoor Air Quality and Energy Efficiency for Comparison of Energy Star and Deep Energy Retrofits- Multiple Partners Cleveland Hpusing Network will renovate 12 houses (for lease/purchase by low-income families) according to specifications developed by EHW (based on Energy Star and Deep Energy Reduction standards). Indoor air quality and energy efficiency will be assessed during one-year of occupancy using a remote sensor system, developed by a local technology company, that transmits data to a website for analysis. Quarterly, EHW staff will visit the home to interview the family and to use conventional test instruments for comparison with the remote moitoring system. The Swetland Center is responsible for study deisgn, IRB process, data analysis, and QA/QC.
o Funding – HUD- Healthy and Green Technical Study and the Cleveland Foundation through March 2013.

Tenants for Healthy Housing – Cleveland Tenants Organization 

Training and assistance for tenant organizers to educate residents of multi-unit family and elderly housing on residential health hazards and to help them secure needed repairs from building owners.
o Funding – US EPA through September 2010 and the McGregor Foundation through April 2010.

Training and Consulting by the Affordable Green Housing Center- Multiple Partners
On a fee basis, the Center provides training, technical consulting, and program development services on affordable, green housing. Examples include: teaching and curriculum development for the Tri-C Green Academy; assisting the City of Cleveland in development and implementation of green requirements for residential construction/renovation tax incentives and training raters for the program.
o Funding – various through March 2011.

Committees and Coalitions
(for which EHW staff provide significant leadership)
• Cuyahoga County Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC)
• LEPC and County Emergency Services Advisory Board – Joint Task Group on Population Protection
• Cleveland Clean Air Century Campaign
• Greater Cleveland Asthma Coalition
• Greater Cleveland Lead Advisory Council

Recent Projects

Pests & Asthma: Reducing Children's Exposures to Pesticides and Asthma Triggers
Targeting parents, building managers, child care providers and others who control/influence children's indoor environments, EHW educated them on safer and more effective pest control methods, focusing on pests associated with asthma triggers - cockroaches, rodents and dust mites.
Partners: The Northeast Ohio Neighborhood Health Services, the Otis Moss, Jr.- University Hospitals Medical Center, Greater Cleveland Asthma Coalition, CMHA and others. Funding: Mt. Sinai Health Care Foundation, the Cleveland Foundation, USEPA Region 5.  See the following factsheet for more information:  Indoor Asthma Triggers, Printer-friendly Indoor, Asthma Triggers (pdf), Cockroach Control Guide, Printer-friendly Cockroach Control Guide (pdf)

Cockroach Allergen Assessment and Reduction
Cockroach allergen is a potent, ubiquitous and persistent asthma trigger in inner-city housing, increasing the frequency and severity of asthma attacks.  Working in CMHA housing units, EHW tested methods for 1) improved assessment of cockroach allergens, 2) safer elimination of cockroach infestation, and 3) effective cleanup of roach allergens. Partners: Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority (CMHA), Greater Cleveland Asthma Coalition, Johns Hopkins Allergy and Asthma Center and the US Agricultural Research Service. Funding: HUD Healthy House Initiative. For project summary click here or see the Final Report (pdf, 40 pgs). See also US EPA Case Study and National Center for Healthy House Case Study (pdf, 4 pgs.).

Mold/Moisture in Homes and Children's Respiratory Health
This project investigated the relationship between children's respiratory diseases, such as asthma and pulmonary hemorrhage, and mold and excessive moisture in their homes and evaluated environmental intervention strategies. EHW's work included: 1) assistance in development of a visual assessment procedure for mold and moisture problems in housing, 2) assistance development of treatment specifications for correction of mold, moisture, and roach problems in housing, 3) occupant education on control of housing-related health hazards, and 4) quality control of environmental assessment. See also our information on mold and mositure interventions. Findings from the study are reported in an article in Environmental Health Perspectives.
Partners: CWRU Medical School, University Hospital, Cuyahoga County Board of Health, County Department of Development, Cleveland Housing Network. Funding: HUD Healthy House Initiative grant to the Cuyahoga County Department of Development.

Community Outreach to Children with Asthma
This project of the Cleveland Empowerment Center worked with schools and families of children with asthma.  EHW provided consultation and training on asthma triggers education.
Other Partners: American Lung Association, Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority. Funding: Ohio Commission on Minority Health.

Asthma Education for Child Care Providers
The Otis Moss, Jr. - University Hospitals Health Center educated child care center directors and teachers about care of children with asthma.  EHW provided education on the assessment and control of building-related health hazards in day care settings.
Partners: Otis Moss, Jr. - University Hospitals Health Center, Ministerial Day Care Association and American Lung Association. Funding: Sisters of Charity Foundation.

Impact of Soil Lead Hazard Control Measures on Exterior and Interior Dusts

EHW conducted the field work for a study of the impact of soil remediation on lead contamination of soil, exterior dust and interior dust. EHW staff collected soil and dust samples from house where soil lead hazard control work was and was not done under the HUD-funded  Lead Hazard Control Program in Cleveland from 1993-1998. Two methods of collecting exterior dust samples were compared. 
Partners: Department of Environmental Health, University of Cincinnati. Funding: HUD Lead Research Grant.

 Tenants for Healthy Housing
A partnership with the Cleveland Tenants Organization and EHW, this project worked in three large low-income apartment buildings to train CTO members to conduct home health hazard assessments.  Data from the hazard assessments was used to inform and influence residents, building owners, and public officials to do their part to reduce housing health hazards. The project was featured in an article in ShelterForce and was used as a case study by National Healthy Homes Training Center and Network (pdf, 6 pgs)
Other Partners: Alliance of Cleveland HUD Tenants, Greater Cleveland Asthma Coalition. Funding: Community Environmental Health Resource Center, a project of the Alliance to End Childhood Lead Poisoning.

 Educating Seniors About Home Health Hazards
The goal is to train tenant leaders in senior buildings about indoor environmental health and equip them to educate their peers. Indoor environmental health hazards typically pose far greater risks to human health than outdoor exposures, a disparity due both to the higher levels of toxics associated with confined spaces and the significant time spent indoors. Because older Americans’ respiratory and immune systems are often particularly vulnerable and because they spend so much time at home, this population is at special risk from health hazards in their homes. Older properties in poor physical condition typically pose more severe environmental health hazards. Educational material developed for the project is on the Alliance website.
EHW developed the curriculum and training materials and conducts the training.
Partners: The Cleveland Tenants Organization, Environmental Health Watch, Association of HUD Tenants and the Alliance for Healthy Homes. Funding: USEPA, the Cleveland Foundation.

Soil Lead Remediation Follow-up Assessment – University of Cincinnati 

Evaluation of lead in soil and dust several years post soil remediation.
o Funding – HUD to September 2008.

Follow-up Evaluation of Window Treatments to Reduce Lead Hazards – National Center for Healthy Housing 

Follow-up visual assessment and wipe sampling to evaluate longevity of window treatments to reduce lead dust.
o Funding – HUD to March 2009.

Safer Roach Control for Asthma Trigger Reduction – American Lung Association

Parent education on integrated pest management for cockroaches.
o Funding – USEPA to December 2008.

Technical Assistance – Cleveland Department of Public Health

Lead hazard control database management, analysis of environmental lead testing data, compilation and analysis of lead disclosure data.
o Funding – HUD through September 2009.

Green Cottages – Eco-Village and Community Land Trust
Green construction consulting, preparation of home-owners manuals, and affordable green housing workshop.
o Funding - Detroit-Shoreway CDC through March 2009.

Greening Your Home Workshops – Nature Center at Shaker Lakes

EHW's Building Science Consultant, Jim LaRue will present a series of eight workshops on affordable green renovations in January and February 2008.

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