First-ever National Healthy Homes Month taking place now

By Kelly Leighton
June 14, 2016
2 min.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) recently named June as National Healthy Homes Month (NHHM).

This is the first year for NHHM, but HUD plans to make it an annual celebration. The goal for this month is for consumers to “learn more about housing and its impact on health and provide resources to encourage local activities as well as empower families to protect themselves from hazards in their home.” This year’s theme is “Everyone Deserves a Safe and Healthy Home,” as HUD said most people spend a significant amount of time inside, so a healthy and safe home is necessary.

Specifically, NHHM will focus on childhood lead poisoning prevention. residential asthma intervention, injury prevention, smoke-free public housing, safe indoor pest control, radon safety and disaster recovery

Each week throughout the month will have its’ own theme, focusing on the “principals of healthy homes.”

June 1-4: “Change is in the air,” encourages consumers to reduce hazards in the air.
June 5-11: “Sherlock Holmes,” reminds residents to “be a detective” when searching for water leaks or spaces where unwanted bugs, insects, etc. could be entering the home.
June 12-19: “Door to door,” a week in which consumers are reminded to adopt both cleaning habits and security measures for the whole home.
June 20-27: “Ready, set, go,” encourages people to keep their home temperature-controlled through maintenance, which will help in the different seasons.
June 28-30, “Write on time,” to end the month, residents are encouraged to talk to their community leaders about policies, standards and regulations to make their community more healthy.