Meet our new MIALSH public health intern!

Yohonna Hakeem is a senior at Michigan State University majoring in Interdisciplinary Studies in Health & Society. She is currently volunteering as a research assistant for Connect 2 Protect HIV/AIDS prevention lab and as a children’s nutritional leader for Lettuce Live Well public charity. Upon graduation Yohonna will be pursuing her masters in public health with a concentration in health policy. When she’s not studying or volunteering she spends her time travelling the world, most recently returning from a three-week stay in New Zealand. She will be helping Tina in the office these next few months welcome her to the team!

MIALSH Offers Paid Internship

Job Description: Public Health Intern for the Michigan Alliance for Lead Safe Homes Coalition (MIALSH). 

20 hours a week with offsite work allowable.  Stipend and college credit options.

Applications will be evaluated on a rolling basis and this position will be filled quickly.  First in first considered.

Michigan Alliance for Lead Safe Homes (MIALSH)

MIALSH works to end lead poisoning in the state of Michigan.  We are a strong coalition of public health departments, state health agencies, lead professionals, contractors, rental property owners, lead impacted families and community partners working together to: raise awareness, provide solutions, and work for strong public policy around lead poisoning prevention.  We help to make homes lead safe for Michigan families from the soil in the yard, to the paint on the walls and even the water in the tap. 

This public health intern will work directly with the MIALSH coalition manager and be housed at The Michigan Environmental Council (MEC) in Lansing.  MEC is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization that is a coalition of more than 70 organizations created in 1980 to lead Michigan’s environmental movement in achieving positive change through the political process.  MEC promotes public policies to ensure that Michigan families will enjoy clear waters, clean beaches, beautiful landscapes and healthy communities for years to come.

Position Description

This public health intern will help support MIALSH by working alongside the coalition manager.  Duties will include helping to plan and execute a State Capitol Lead Education Day including logistics, promoting coalition attendance, scheduling law maker meetings, creating and compiling educational materials for lawmakers and attendees, planning a press event, compiling exit feedback and necessary follow up.  In addition, this intern will have the opportunity to create blog posts, tweets and other communications around lead poisoning prevention for MIALSH and MEC publications.  This intern will have a full State Capitol experience and can anticipate helping to develop public policy and attending legislative hearings in Lansing.  Finally, this intern will participate in monthly MIALSH coalition calls and work to increase membership by identifying under represented areas and help with membership outreach. 

Desired Qualifications and Skills

We are looking for a candidate with a passion for lead poisoning prevention and or public health.  This candidate should be comfortable planning and executing a major event, communicating by phone and have strong writing and organizational skills.  We are looking for someone who wants to work hard, is eager to learn new things and is prepared to take a leadership role on projects.

Serious candidates please e-mail a cover letter, resume and a one page writing sample to: tina@environmentalcouncil.org

Flint crisis shows need for further investment in statewide lead programs, advocates say

Lansing, MICH. – As city and state officials work toward reestablishing a safe drinking water supply for the city of Flint, health advocates say the crisis highlights the need for further measures to protect Michigan children from lead hazards that are common in communities across Michigan.

Corrosive Flint River water caused lead from plumbing to leach into drinking water, exposing children, pregnant women and other vulnerable residents to dangerous levels of lead. 

Lead poisoning causes irreversible brain damage that can lead to lowered IQ, memory problems and aggressive behavior. The national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2013 updated its lead guidelines, noting that there is no safe level of exposure. 

“It is heartbreaking that, simply because they drank the water at their home or school, or were fed formula made with tainted water, some of these children will struggle for the rest of their lives from the cognitive impacts of lead poisoning,” said Tina Reynolds, coordinator of the Michigan Alliance for Lead Safe Housing (MIALSH).

“Their personal suffering will also be a great loss to our state,” Reynolds added, noting that childhood lead exposure costs Michigan $330 million a year in decreased lifetime earnings and increased costs for health care, crime and special education. “We must do more to protect the next generation and give them a fair chance to succeed.” 

Amy Zaagman, executive director of the Michigan Council for Maternal and Child Health, noted the potential long-range effects of lead poisoning. 

“New research is demonstrating that when a pregnant woman is exposed to lead, it’s not only the child she’s carrying who is affected, but also her grandchildren,” Zaagman said. “Lead poisoning is irreversible and the consequences for future generations must be addressed.” 

While tainted water had terrible consequences in Flint, experts say lead-based paint and lead dust is a far more common way that Michigan children are exposed to lead hazards. About 70 percent of the state’s homes were built before 1978, when lead paint was outlawed. Children in those homes can ingest lead through innocent behaviors, such as crawling in paint dust and then putting fingers in their mouths. 

Statewide, more than 5,000 children had blood lead levels that exceed the CDC’s reference level for lead exposure in 2014. Only 20 percent of children are tested each year, so the true figures are likely much higher. Lead poisoning is especially prevalent in urban centers like Detroit, Grand Rapids and Flint. 

“As a parent, I fully understand and share the public outrage over the poisoning of Flint’s children through drinking water,” said Paul Haan, executive director of the Healthy Homes Coalition of West Michigan. “That said, I think it’s equally outrageous that we haven’t done more to protect Michigan’s kids from unsafe exposure to lead paint, given how common it is in older homes and all we know about its health effects. It’s a more complicated problem that will take longer to fix, but we need to get the job done.” 

MIALSH partners have secured much-needed state funding in each of the past three years for programs to prevent lead poisoning and provide help to afflicted families. The state’s 2016 budget includes $1.75 million for those programs. 

“My organization and other MIALSH members applaud Michigan lawmakers for making funding available to protect children from lead poisoning,” said Mary Sue Schottenfels, executive director of CLEARCorps/Detroit. “We think the situation in Flint only underscores the need for continued increases in investment for those programs. Unlike so many public health issues, we know exactly how to eradicate this problem. It’s simply a matter of political will.” 

MIALSH urges Michigan residents to take the following steps to protect children from lead poisoning: 

• Get all children birth through age 5 tested if they live or spend considerable time in a house or day care facility built before 1978. 
• When renovating pre-1978 housing, assume all paint is lead-based and use lead-safe work practices. (http://www2.epa.gov/lead) 
• When hiring contractors, make sure they are RRP (Renovation, Repair and Painting) Certified by the Environmental Protection Agency. (http://www2.epa.gov/lead) 
• Get your home tested for lead—see the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services/Healthy Homes Section website (michigan.gov/leadsafe) for a list of certified Lead Inspector/Risk Assessors. 

Additional resources to keep your family safe are available at: 

http://michigan.gov/lead 

http://www.healthyhomescoalition.org/lead 

http://clearcorpsdetroit.org/ 

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October 25-31, 2015 is National Lead Poisoning Prevention Week

October 25-31st is National Lead Poisoning Prevention Week and was kicked off by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). States like Michigan participate and help elevate awareness during this week to reach as many families as possible. Fall is a prime time to find high lead levels in a child. Summer months of playing in the yard around older homes along with open windows and doors with compromised lead paint increases the chance for lead exposure. Doctors appointments in the fall associated with "back to school" and ill child visits, can uncover this lead exposure so fall is a typical time we see spikes in lead blood levels. The Michigan Department of Health & Human Services Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program shared a 2015 Lead Poisoning Prevention Week Toolkit. Click here to visit their website and download it.

Michigan Legislature Approves $1.75 Million for Lead Abatement

We have much to celebrate today!  Yesterday afternoon, the Michigan Legislature approved $1.75 million for lead abatement in the upcoming year.  This is a continuation of the monies our coalition fought for last year.

It was a very tough budget year with roads/infrastructure, school funding, burgeoning healthcare costs and business tax breaks putting pressure on an already tight budget.  Despite these factors and many others, our lawmakers believe in the work we are doing and want to make more Michigan families lead safe.  Our message got through!

Thank you to those who came to testify at the budget hearing in support of these dollars.  Thank you to those who came to Lead Education Day to talk to policy makers about the dangers of lead poisoning and how it is impacting health, academics and lifelong earnings in Michigan.  Finally, a big thanks to our coalition members at large for participating in monthly calls, following us on social media,  and for working hard in your community to prevent children from becoming lead poisoned and helping families who have lead exposures.

The $1.75 million dollars awarded were hard won and will be well spent!  Please take a minute to reflect in how far we have come and let us all enjoy this victory today!  Please also take a minute to call or e-mail your legislators and thank them for this appropriation.