Healthy Places for Children

Children deserve safe and healthy environments. And yet, the current chemical burden on children, according to leading health scientists, is unacceptably high. Pediatric experts note that children are exquisitely more sensitive than adults to toxic chemicals in the environment. Their early developmental processes are easily disrupted by pollutants; exposures to pollution can lead to a variety of serious health conditions. The Endowments pursues grantmaking that helps to prioritize protecting children from harmful pollution. Schools and child care settings should be environmental sanctuaries for children – clean and free of pollution.

Healthy Schools PA is a Women for a Healthy Environment program that addresses environmental risk factors in schools and other learning centers by offering solutions to help create healthy settings in which children can thrive and learn. These risk factors, which contribute to poor air quality and have negative effects on health, include cleaning supplies, mold, building renovations, bus idling, maintenance equipment, pesticides and radon. Healthy Schools PA provides information, support and hands-on assistance in ensuring that education facilities are free of toxins.

Women for a Healthy Environment and the Green Building Alliance have teamed up to launch the 1,000 Hours a Year Project to help schools, early learning centers and after-school programs address the preventable health hazards of lead and radon. The initiative provides mini-grants of up to $7,500, training and other assistance to enable schools and centers to remedy these environmental problems at their facilities.