As part of its 25th anniversary celebration, Habitat for Humanity Detroit is proud to have partnered with Merck and the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America (AAFA) to build a home with asthma-healthy features for a low-income family affected by the disease. The Build Smart Breathe Easier program was facilitated by Habitat for Humanity International, which helped the pharmaceutical company and advocacy organization choose four cities around the nation for the building of a new house.
Asthma statistics in the Detroit area are startling and greatly influenced the decision to build in Detroit. For instance:
- In Detroit, recent asthma hospitalization rates for African Americans are more than two times higher than those for Whites.
- In Detroit alone, 13.7 percent of adults suffer from asthma, which is a 50 percent higher rate than the state of Michigan as a whole.
- The rate of asthma hospitalizations for Detroit children is 50 percent higher than that of Detroit adults.
The Habitat Detroit home was completed in July and was designed to reduce a variety of asthma triggers, which can include mold, dust mites and strong fumes or odors. Habitat Detroit incorporated asthma-healthy techniques, materials and systems into the building process based on principles from AAFA’s asthma & allergy friendly® Certification Program.
Click here to read more about this initiative from BLAC Detroit Magazine
Click here to learn more about HEAL Asthma.
