Springfield Healthy Homes Coalition Meeting
Please note that our office is working remotely from home. This is an online meeting. We will not be meeting at our location until further notice.
Please join us at the next coalition meeting at the Public Health Institute of Western MA, Robinson Conference Room , from 2-3 PM or you may join via Zoom .

Agenda
  • Properly cleaning businesses and homes after covid-19 for reopening
  • Update on lead poisoning prevention promotional campaign

Tuesday, June 16, 2020, 2-3 PM
Zoom conference:  https://zoom.us/j/4137397739
Call-in line: 9292056099 Passcode: 4137397739#

Healthy Homes and Buildings: Health connection tips and tools to keep indoors safe &healthy
Whether you live in an apartment, townhome or single family home, an old home or are building a new home, there are many ways to protect and improve your indoor air quality. You’re invited to learn about them as well as tips and tools to help you keep indoor environments safe and healthy during this webinar. U.S. EPA will discuss common indoor pollutants and what residents and building managers can do about them.

Hosted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 8 Indoor Air Quality and Children's Environmental Health Programs

Thursday, June 4th, 10:00 – 11:30 a.m. MDT (12 – 1:30 p.m. EDT)
Register here .
Facts About Hoarding Disorder
Here are a few facts on hoarding disorder that you might not have been aware about from Becca and Lee Belofsky at Mutual Support Consulting .
HD is a diagnosable, treatable mental health challenge.  2% to 5% of the world’s population need help. That’s 6 million to 16 million people in the US, including 140,000 to 350,000 in MA.
 
Hoarding is a behavior, not an identity.   Rather than calling people hoarders, use terms like, “over-collecting,” “finding and keeping," or “people living with HD.” If a person with HD chooses to call themself a hoarder, that’s their right, not ours. 
 
Stigma towards people with HD is increasing.  In the time of COVID-19, the word “hoarder” is used to describe anyone stockpiling essential goods, whether it’s out of distress or to price-gouge. HD is not a crime. 
 
HD is not an adjective.   To say you’re “such a hoarder” because you have a pile of papers on your desk is like saying you’re “so OCD” because you can’t stand a cluttered desk.
 
HD doesn't discriminate.  People of all ages, races, religions, socioeconomic status, and gender, are vulnerable. 
 
The diagnosis of HD does not hinge upon the value that others place on the items saved . Too much of anything can become a problem.

 It's never too soon or too late to get help.  People of all ages can and do recover.
Peers can help each other.  Research shows that self-help groups facilitated by people with lived experience of HD are as effective as self-help groups run by licensed clinicians.
 
Many people with HD do acknowledge their challenge, and they do want help . People around the world are getting help and making progress.
 
HD affects all members of a household . Care and support must be extended to the entire family. Children, both young and grown, need help too. It is not their responsibility to be caretakers for their parents with HD. 
 
Cleanouts aren’t an effective treatment for HD.   Removing items from someone’s home doesn’t make them “better,” just as throwing someone’s cigarettes away doesn’t mean they quit smoking.

People with too many animals are usually overwhelmed caregivers .  People who are called “animal hoarders” may act out of a fear that their animals will be put to sleep if they are discovered.  Working to decrease this fear and build a bridge between animal lovers and  animal welfare organizations  may help to save the lives of both the animals and the people who love them. 
 
Fair Housing and Civil Rights Conference
The 14th Annual Fair Housing and Civil Rights Conference that was originally scheduled to take place on April 24th has been postponsed until this fall 2020.

Starting next month, they will begin streaming some special FHCR workshops to you through the conference website that seek to take a look at how some of the hard questions of equity and human rights that are dealt with every day are being affected by the COVID-19 crisis. The Springfield Healthy Homes Collaborative will keep you informed as more information is shared.