An unhealthy alliance

[Guest guest]

The Associated Press

The Daily Comet

http://www.dailycomet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?

AID=/20070509/APN/705091882

From News & Record of Greensboro, May 6:

An unhealthy alliance

Greensboro Housing Coalition reports tell at least part of the story:

In one instance, how mold from a leak in a rental home led to

serious respiratory problems for a young mother and her son. How, in

another case, parents had to seek legal help to address raw sewage

seeping into the playground of their apartment complex.

Both examples speak to the link between substandard housing and

child illnesses, diseases and injuries - a correlation that has

become increasingly clear in recent years, with rates of asthma,

birth defects, developmental problems and some types of cancer on

the rise nationwide.

Now, a new North Carolina Housing Coalition study aims to bring new

clarity to a related issue: the economic costs of unhealthy homes

statewide. The report commissioned by the Raleigh-based nonprofit

puts the total costs of poor childhood health connected with

substandard housing at close to $95 million.

Its call for more quality affordable housing, and tougher code

enforcement for owner-occupied and rental housing, isn't just the

right thing to do for the sake of a brighter, healthier future for

the state's children. Meeting those goals also is key to reducing

the high costs of unhealthy housing for everybody else. As the

report states, sooner or later, everyone pays for the negative

impacts on children's health, education and welfare.

In cooperation with a wide-ranging association of other groups, the

housing coalition is seeking $50 million in state funding for the

N.C. Housing Trust Fund. The fund finances housing for people with

special needs, urgent repairs for low-income homeowners, home

ownership for low-income families and rental housing development.

Estes, the coalition's executive director, hopes the new

report will strengthen its case for increased legislative support of

the housing trust. " We'll definitely be sending a summary report to

all the legislators, " he said.

With allies in partnering organizations and in the General Assembly,

the coalition has made significant progress in winning more

resources for the housing trust. State allocations to the fund have

risen from $3 million in 2004 to $19 million in 2006. But the fact

that at least one of every five N.C. homes is substandard or

unaffordable for low-income families - along with the ill effects of

such housing on child and adult health - vividly illustrates the

need for more funding to combat the problem.

The coalition's report cites initiatives to reduce unsafe housing in

Greensboro and in Durham as models. Both are among cities making

notable inroads in meeting that goal. More than 1,500 such housing

units in Greensboro have been repaired or demolished in recent

years, and lead levels in more than 400 units have been made safe.

However, as Mark Cranford of Greensboro's Lead Safe Housing Program

told the News & Record, " we know we're just scratching the surface. "

The lives - and livelihoods - of all North Carolinians impacted by

the costs of substandard housing, directly and indirectly, merit

more concerted efforts. The N.C. Housing Coalition's study should

spur state and local governments, and the private sector, to do more

to increase safe and affordable housing in communities statewide.