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Nibbling at the Edge of Darkness:

Nibbling at the Edge of Darkness: . The Children’s Health Forum’s Ten-Year Campaign to Prevent Childhood Lead Poisoning and O ther Childhood Diseases April 20, 2012 Melanie Hudson, Executive Director. “ We’ve come a long way, but it’s like nibbling at the edge of darkness.”

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Nibbling at the Edge of Darkness:

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  1. Nibbling at the Edge of Darkness: The Children’s Health Forum’s Ten-Year Campaign to Prevent Childhood Lead Poisoning and Other Childhood Diseases April 20, 2012 Melanie Hudson, Executive Director

  2. “We’ve come a long way, but it’s like nibbling at the edge of darkness.” -- Dr. Benjamin L. Hooks The CRISIS Magazine, March 1987

  3. The Children’s Health Forum Founders and Board of Directors • Founder, Dr. Benjamin Hooks • Co-Founder, The Honorable Jack Kemp • The Honorable Kurt L. Schmoke • The Honorable Henry Cisneros • The Honorable Susan Molinari • Booker “B.T.” Jones • Olivia Morgan

  4. Our Mission Our mission is to prevent childhood diseases that disproportionately impact underserved communities, including childhood lead poisoning, asthma, diabetes, and HIV/AIDS, through outreach, public education, and support and funding of community-based partnerships with local elected officials, health advocates, and the private sector.

  5. Community Engagement and Partnerships • $130,000 in grants to 12 local nonprofits beginning in 2004 • Outreach with elected officials and community leaders at 20 events to promote child health since 2003 • Champion for Children awards • Children’s Health Days community health fairs

  6. Public Education and Outreach “We can prevent childhood lead poisoning. According to the CDC, lead poisoning among young children has decreased by 68 percent in the past decade. This progress has been a direct result of innovative programs administered by effective and determined leaders… Investing in the fight against childhood lead poisoning is investing in the health and future of our children.” -- Dr. Benjamin L. Hooks in The Des Moines Register on February 14, 2006 • Advocacy for and promotion of federal funding: more than $460M in HUD grants to 65 communities in 10 years • Nationwide public education campaign to raise awareness and prompt action • Leadership of the National Safe and Healthy Housing Coalition

  7. Healthy Kids Collaborative • $10 million RI lead safety program launched in 2006 • First established in 2006 as a public-private partnership with the Office of the Rhode Island Attorney General and funded by DuPont • Goals: Address lead safety through outreach, education, training, compliance with regulations, and remediation of lead hazards in low income homes • $9.54M in direct grants to 12 organizations over 5 years

  8. Historic Remediation Project • Largest, most successful, and most cost effective home lead remediation project in U.S. history • $6.7 M to CLEARCorps USA to make at least 600 low income homes affordable, safe, and healthy in three years • Exceeded goal: 615 lead safe homes on time and on budget • Nearly 800 children protected • More than 75 jobs created, including 16 AmeriCorps positions

  9. A Decisive Decade • Building a national model to improve community health through cost-effective housing interventions • Leveraging private sector dollars to deliver real and lasting impacts on communities • Exemplifying Dr. Hooks’sand Secretary Kemp’s vision of innovative and pragmatic public-private partnerships • Stoking a national discourse on childhood lead poisoning – but we must redouble our efforts to reach our goals

  10. Questions? Melanie Hudson Executive Director Children’s Health Forum www.chf4kids.org 1645 Connecticut Avenue, NW Suite 1 Washington, DC 20009 mhudson@chf4kids.org

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