Message from Board President
Board President
My name is Phillip Bouton, and I am honored to serve as Board President of the Ohio Healthy Homes Network (OHHN). As a public health official, I know firsthand how the quality of our homes and neighborhoods impacts health, safety, and opportunity.
A home should be the foundation of health and stability, yet far too many Ohio families continue to live in unsafe conditions. Children are still exposed to lead hazards, mold, radon, pests, poor ventilation, and other preventable environmental dangers that cause and trigger asthma and other chronic illnesses. These conditions directly affect school readiness, workforce participation, and long-term health outcomes.
That is why OHHN’s mission—to promote healthy, safe, and affordable housing for all Ohioans—is more important than ever. We align our work with the Eleven Principles of a Healthy Home, which emphasize that every home should be:
- Dry
- Clean
- Safe
- Pest-Free
- Contaminant-Free
- Ventilated
- Maintained
- Thermally Controlled
- Accessible
- Affordable
- Resilient and Ready for natural disasters and emergencies
For every dollar invested in lead hazard control, society saves at least $17 in healthcare costs, special education, and lost productivity. In-home asthma prevention efforts save up to $14 per dollar invested on emergency room visits, hospitalizations, and missed school days. Weatherization to make energy-efficient homes makes families and communities more resilient and returns $2.78 in just nonenergy benefits for every $1.00 invested. These are real returns on investment that benefit not just individual families, but our entire state economy.
OHHN works with partners across Ohio to make these principles a reality.
We call on Ohio’s state leadership and policy makers to make healthy housing a strategic priority. That means aligning housing, health, and related environmental policy; investing in prevention programs; enabling robust funding for hazard remediation; and ensuring that all communities—including rural areas, low- and moderate-income neighborhoods, and historically disinvested areas—have access to safe, healthy homes.
When we design, maintain, and retrofit homes with health in mind, we protect children’s development, strengthen families, reduce health disparities, and generate economic value for taxpayers and communities alike. I invite you to join us in making every Ohio home a foundation for health—because when Ohio families thrive in healthy homes, our entire state thrives.
— Phillip Bouton
Board President
Ohio Healthy Homes Network