Brief Statement of Purpose

Florida Children’s Environmental Health Alliance (FCEHA) is a non-profit organization focused on promoting healthy and supportive environments that protect children from environmental and occupational health hazards. It has been established to identify, validate, and develop solutions to address the adverse health effects to children occurring as a consequence of exposure to environmental hazards in Florida, in the USA, and in the World.

FCEHA believes in environmental justice, the principle that people have the right to live in a healthy and safe environment regardless of their race and/or socioeconomic status. In its inception, the Alliance is to investigate, develop and implement prevention strategies for children living in at-risk housing in Florida, starting with the southeastern counties of Florida (Monroe, Miami Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach). It is a coalition with over fifteen partners representing government, academic, medical and community-based organizations committed to building a strong, sustainable and collaborative movement to protect current and future generations from harmful environmental exposures. The ultimate goal is to establish an Occupational & Environmental Clinic and Research Center that primarily focuses on the investigation and prevention of exposures to occupational and environmental hazards affecting children from the womb to 18 years of age.

Mission

To promote healthy and supportive environments that protect children from environmental and occupational health hazards while empowering them through their caretakers, to live long and prosper in their own homes, schools, and communities.

Objectives

• To promote through research health promotion and disease prevention strategies that heal the whole person with focus on children in their immediate homes, schools, and communities;
• To provide service, education and advocacy that build healthier communities in order to facilitate information exchange on the best practices or models in the area of children’s environmental health;
• To promote a Public Awareness Campaign which will affirm our Mission, Ideology and Envisioned Future to influence health professionals, policymakers, legislators, the media and community members;
• To elevate public awareness of the value of life at all stages and to affirm how environmental hazards can jeopardize a child’s health;
• To create and maintain a partnership in high-risk communities by continuously evaluating their needs and to provide solutions to environmental health hazards affecting children.

Research Programs

1) Toxic chemicals including metals such as Lead, Mercury, Arsenic and other chemicals such as Pesticides, PCBs, Dioxins and Endocrine Disruptors along with issues of health disparity / environmental justice;

2) Indoor air pollutants in the homes and the workplace including environmental tobacco smoke and other triggers of asthma such as exposure to dust mites and fungi (mold);

3) Health, Disparity and Built Environment - The built environment includes the aspects of our environment that are human-modified such as homes, schools, workplaces, parks, industrial areas, farms, roads and highways. The challenges pertain to transportation, urban sprawl, air pollution, city planning, and diminishing natural resources and the impact of social and demographic characteristics, urbanization and physical activity, schools, and homes, TV and other media. There is increasing evidence that the places where we work and live affect our health. The goals are the following: a) Identifying and addressing public health aspects of the built environment that would ultimately help decrease childhood obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and asthma and other related conditions, while improving mental health, are potential benefits of living in sustainable communities; and b) Exploring the Area of Community & School Safety, Injury Control / Violence Prevention (Injury is the leading cause of death in the US among children and teenagers);

4)Exploring GIS to get a spatial perspective on the geographic distribution of health disparities and environmental justice.