Seeks to Make 120 Tribal Homes Healthy and Safe
AKWESASNE — The Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe’s Home Improvement Program is pleased to announce that it has received $564,313 in funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Healthy Homes Production Grant Program. HUD’s Office of Lead Hazard Control and Health Homes awarded the grant for HIP and the Environment Division’s Air Quality Program to address poor housing conditions in the Akwesasne community. Combined with $62,702 in matching tribal funds, the total amount available for home improvements is $627,015.
“There exists environmental health and safety issues in many tribal homes due to the age of their construction and lack of understanding about proper home maintenance and systems,” stated Home Improvement Program Manager Ernest Cree. “According to the Tribe’s health care facility, nearly 25 percent of our community has some type of respiratory condition and 11 percent have experienced a home-related accident that could have been prevented, such as a fall due to a home not being handicap accessible,” noted Cree.
Many tribal homes were built before the 1970s — prior to the adoption of building codes and the requirement of environmental testing for radon, mold, or other harmful substances. As a result, a tribal housing survey recently revealed nearly 60 percent, were constructed without appropriate housing materials, with more than 95 percent failing to meet some type of modern building code or exhibited an environmental health hazard.
“Preliminary testing conducted by the Tribe’s Air Quality Program discovered a few tribal homes with elevated levels of radon,” said Air Quality Program Manager Angela Benedict. She added, “More thorough testing of households may reveal that recent floods, earthquakes and blasting done in the past years may make that figure exponentially higher.”
The HUD grant will enable the Air Quality Program to conduct environmental testing for taking a broader approach in addressing illnesses attributed to poor housing conditions. The Air Quality Program will test community member’s homes for radon gas; with the Home Improvement Program remediating and making necessary repairs, as well as providing education on home maintenance and safety. The Healthy Homes Production Grant will see as many as 120 homes receive radon remediation or other type of home improvement, including some major repairs or the addition of a handicap ramp, over the next two years.
Some of the improvements that qualifying households can receive from HIP following an environmental test of air quality and other hazards include new windows and doors, attic insulation, energy efficiency retrofits, as well as repairs to address potential safety concerns. To assist in accomplishing this task, five (5) recently hired HIP staff will receive professional training on implementing environmental health and home safety standards.
“The health and safety of our tribal members is a priority and the ability to develop our capacity to deliver those services continues to be an important goal for the Tribe,” said Executive Director Tsiorasa Barreiro. The Executive Director added, “I extend my congratulations and appreciation to the Home Improvement Program and the Air Quality Program for working together to ensure that our Mohawk families have healthy homes.”
To schedule a Healthy Home Risk Assessment, please contact the Home Improvement Program at (518) 358-2272, or stop by their office located on the lower level of the Community Building at 412 State Route 37 in Akwesasne, NY.
For more information on radon gas testing, please see page 23 of the September/October 2018 edition of the tribal newsletter Kawenni:ios by clicking here.
PHOTO CAPTION: Pictured is Home Improvement Program workers (from left) Larry Roundpoint and Justin Oakes replacing windows on a tribal household at Akwesasne, NY
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