_{SYMPOSIA AND STRATEGY SESSIONS TOWARD REDUCING THE BURDEN OF ASTHMA AND OTHER HEALTH IMPACTS
MARCH - JUNE 2009}

Healthy Housing is a holistic approach that integrates environmental, affordable housing and public health concerns into a broader agenda for planning, policy, and professional practice.On June 16-17, 2009 California Breathing (CB), an asthma program at the California Department of Public Health, sponsored Healthy Housing in California: Reducing the Burden of Asthma and Other Health Impacts. This symposium drew about 180 people from around the state involved in a variety of related fields. Participants represented public health, code enforcement, environmental health, health care, housing advocacy, health advocacy, property management, legal aid, green building, energy efficiency, research and other disciplines. The purpose was to share information and promising strategies, as well as to lay the groundwork for building a collaborative healthy housing agenda statewide.

The statewide meeting was coordinated with a series of five local healthy housing symposia held in Southern, Northern and Central California communities. These local meetings were organized by the National Center for Health Housing (NCHH) with funding from The California Endowment and logistical and planning support from the Healthy Homes Collaborative. The purpose of the local symposia was to facilitate discussion among key stakeholders, identify local concerns, and evaluate models and research to inform a statewide Healthy Homes Action Plan. The conversations and findings shared at these meetings also served as a launch pad for strategy discussions at the statewide meeting.

Full reports on the meetings can be found here and on the National Center Healthy for Healthy Housing website.  Click here to view the statewide symposium agenda and presentations.