HEALTHY HOMES ASSESSMENT AVAILABLE IN THE AREA

The Polk, Norman and Mahnomen County Public Health offices offer free Healthy Home Assessments and Environmental Intervention services.  The assessment is free of charge regardless of income and it was started with the Minnesota Department of Health and Housing and Urban Development to look at families that had children with asthma to see if they could get the home healthier for them, so they wouldn’t miss school as frequently.  As the program rolled out, they realized a bigger and broader need.  Tracy Johnson of Norman County Public Health said they seven areas of home safety. “We look for moisture that could lead to mold, so we try to keep it dry.  We will do an assessment on the basement and areas in the home that are more inclined to have mold building up under the kitchen sink and things like that,” said Johnson. “People might have lived in a home like that their whole life and not know how to start the cleanup process, so I go in with cleaning supplies and show them how to get things clean in a safe way.”  Johnson said you don’t want to use a broom to clean up in your house because that increases the dust floating around your house, so they suggest damp mopping instead.
Looking for pests and making sure the home is safe is another part of the healthy home inspection. “Mice, bedbugs, roaches, or infestation of any sort,” said Johnson. “We look for weak flooring, rails that are loose, poor lighting and we talk about keeping it contaminant free.  We recommend removing potpourri and plug-ins that increase the scents in the air because that can trigger upper respiratory issues, putting locks on the cleaning supplies door, keeping the house ventilated and we check for radon and keeping the house well maintained.”
Polk, Norman and Mahnomen County Public Health offices offer free radon testing kits and they are easy to use.  “Anybody, no matter how rich or poor you are can get a healthy homes assessment,” said Johnson. “Everybody deserves a healthy home and the inspections are non-judgmental.  Everybody has an issue in their home and we help the homeowner know what isn’t safe and how to take care of it.”
To contact Polk County Public Health, call 218-281-3385.  Norman County Public Health is 218-784-5425 and Mahnomen County Public Health is 218-935-2527.