OUR BACK YARD INTERDISCIPLINARY COLLABORATION
The burden of unhealthy housing
Making Chicagoland homes healthier through research and partnership
U
Clinical Professor of Law Anita Weinberg, director of Loyola’s ChildLaw Policy Institute, was awarded the first Ignatius Loyola Award for Excellence in Teach- ing in September. The award, which will be pre- sented once every two years, is the University’s most prestigious teaching honor and recognizes a faculty member whose teaching shows a commitment to excellence, raises global awareness, promotes social justice, and educates the whole student.
20 LOYOLA UNIVERSITY CHICAGO THE PROBLEMS
LEAD: Learning disabilities, hyperactivity, behavioral problems, health problems, reduced intelligence/lower IQ scores
PESTS: Asthma, allergies, communicable diseases, use of pesticides can cause neurological problems and cancer
MOLD: Asthma, allergies
AIR QUALITY (radon, carbon monoxide): Leading cause of lung cancer among non-smokers, second-leading cause of lung cancer in America, long-term brain damage, death
WATER QUALITY: Water-borne illnesses EMERGING ENVIRONMENTAL TOXINS
nhealthy housing due to environmental toxins like lead, mold, carbon monoxide, and poor water quality can place heavy burdens on the people in those homes and on their communities. These hazards currently put 1.2 mil- lion children in Chicago and suburban Cook County at risk of serious health
problems, including asthma, lead poisoning, learning disabilities, behavioral and health problems, long-term brain damage, and cancer.
These problems are preventable, according to Anita Weinberg, JD, MSSW, Director of Loyola’s ChildLaw Policy Institute and a member of the Advancing Healthy Homes & Healthy Communities initiative steering committee. Through research and community and government partnerships, Loyola is taking a leadership role in creating healthier homes. “We’re in an ideal situation to successfully tackle
these problems,” says Weinberg. “This is an oppor- tunity for the University to tackle issues that affect communities we care about through community engagement and student and faculty research.”
The Healthy Homes & Healthy Communities
initiative spans disciplines at Loyola and in the community, from health care to law, and from geo- graphic information systems to government and public policy. This past June, the University hosted a summit bringing together 150 people from a broad range of disciplines to start developing a framework for city and county strategic planning and to address the major questions. “What do we know about the health of our
homes? What are the laws regulating housing hazards, and is there enforcement?” Weinberg asks. “How do we leverage dollars to address these
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