Nora Grace-Flood Photo
Monique Ricks on her Healthy Homes-funded porch: Don't forget to remember about radon. The city is distributing 50 free test kits this week.
Monique Ricks can breathe easy — now that she’s sure her home is radon free.
She found that out thanks to the Healthy Homes Program, a federal initiative that has sent money into cities like New Haven to make repairs and improvements to eligible housing stock.
City officials gathered outside Ricks’ Truman Street home Monday to publicize that program while emphasizing the importance of radon testing amid “National Radon Awareness Week.”
New Haven’s Health Department is distributing 50 free do-it-yourself radon testing kits as well as professional inspections until the money runs out.
Radon is an odorless, invisible, radioactive gas that’s naturally released from rocks, soil and water. It can enter buildings through cracks in walls or foundations and cause health issues like lung cancer among people who experience chronic exposure to radioactive buildup.
“I had a radon test done when I first got the house,” Ricks, who moved into her place 20 years ago, recalled. “Then I just never thought about it again.”
The city reminded her of radon’s potential dangers when she applied for assistance from the Healthy Homes Program. Ricks learned about the program from a flyer her son brought home from Roberto Clemente elementary.
Ricks received a $10,000 grant, which allowed her to replace the broken porch leading up to her door, reseal some drafty windows, and allow a professional to test the radon levels in her basement. Fortunately, she was in the clear.
Many are not so lucky. Given the gas’ sneaky properties, many never realize the presence of the gas in their homes – which in turn increases their likelihood of becoming one of the nation’s 21,000 individuals to die of lung cancer related to radon exposure. Radon is considered the second leading cause of lung cancer after cigarette smoking.
New Haveners can pick up free radon testing kits at the city’s libraries and other locations over the course of this week. (Check out the schedule here or above to find out when and where.) The city has only 40 to 50 kits, which usually sell for around $30, available for free. Other residents, so long as they make under 80 percent of the applicable area median income (calculate whether you make the cut based on household size here), can apply for professional radon inspections through the Healthy Homes Program.
Learn more and apply for that here. Homeowners or landlords can receive up to $10,000 to address housing-related hazards, which can mean making structural improvements to the home or testing for and remediating issues like mold, asthma triggers, carbon monoxide, pesticides, and, of course, radon. Radon remediation can cost thousands of dollars.
Amid the city’s affordable housing crisis, Mayor Justin Elicker said Monday that the Healthy Homes Initiative, which has brought $2 million into New Haven, “is part of an overall strategy for improving existing housing stock” and upping the overall number of people accessing safe and affordable shelter.
Margaret Conable, a contractor with Elm City Home Inspections, noted that winter months are the best time to test for radon, given that windows and doors are typically tightly shut (a requirement for accurate testing), and because of the thermal stack effect, which can draw disproportionate levels of radon into a building as warm air rises indoors.
Margaret Conable shows off various radon testing methods, such as at-home charcoal canister kits which are sent into laboratories for analysis.
here's a newsflash - those $10k grants to fix a porch that wasn't maintained didn't come from the government, they just siphoned it off the taxpayers and gave it away...