American Lung Association Smokefree Housing Initiative

Program Contact Info:

Address:

55 West Wacker Drive, Chicago
Chicago, IL 60601 United States

Website:

http://www.lung.org/

Organization/Agency:

American Lung Association

Type of Agency:

Nonprofit

Staff Information

Program Description / Services

The American Lung Association has created a variety of free tools and resources to assist multi-unit housing properties – including public housing – with going smokefree. These include “Smokefree Housing in Multi-Unit Housing: Steps for Success Online Course,” smoking cessation resources, fact sheets and videos and success stories.

The American Lung Association and the Anthem Foundation have come together on the Smoking Cessation for Low Income Housing Residents Initiative to give public housing residents in select communities access to proven-effective tobacco cessation services through the Lung Association’s Freedom From Smoking® program.

With funding from the Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation, the American Lung Association assists public housing authorities (PHAs) to foster a smooth transition in 10 states (Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and West Virginia) by sharing best practices from its many years of experience with implementing smokefree housing policies and providing quit-smoking support to residents who are ready to quit.

The American Lung Association, with a grant from the CVS Foundation and in partnership with the National Urban League, offers free smoking cessation resources to the African American community in four cities (Atlanta, Chicago, Indianapolis and Washington, District of Columbia).

The American Lung Association, with support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and in partnership with Mental Health America, is conducting the Smokefree at Home project to facilitate the successful implementation of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)’s smokefree housing rule and improve health outcomes for all residents, including people living with behavioral health conditions. The Smokefree at Home project is ensuring that public housing authority (PHA) 14 staff, behavioral health advocates and residents possess the skills and educational resources necessary to implement smokefree policies. The project is also equipping PHA staff with the skills necessary to communicate properly with residents so that the policy is enforced as well as teaching them how to respond appropriately to the needs of residents who may have difficulty understanding or adhering to the new policy. This project ensures that HUD’s smokefree housing rule is implemented in a manner that assists those with behavioral health disorders with compliance, while avoiding evictions and protecting some of the most vulnerable people in the public housing population and the country as a whole.

The American Lung Association is working in states across the U.S. to reduce secondhand smoke exposure and increase the number of smokefree multi-unit housing policies.

Geographic Area Served

Online resources available nationwide, Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia and Wisconsin

Type of Housing Covered

Multi-Unit Housing, Apartments, Townhomes, Condominiums, Co-Ops, Senior Housing, Residential Care Facilities, Student Housing, Market Rate, Public Housing, Affordable/Section 8, Supportive Housing, Veterans Housing, Indian Housing