HUD Launches Secretary’s Award for Excellence in Healthy Homes During National Healthy Homes Month

Seeking nominations best exemplifying programs and practices in health equity and maximizing healthy homes community impacts

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is accepting nominations for the 2023 HUD Secretary's Award for Excellence in Healthy Homes in honor of National Healthy Homes Month (NHHM).

Healthy housing is the foundation for strong, vibrant communities and their residents. The Award offers an exceptional opportunity to recognize the program or project best creating and sustaining healthier home environments.

"At HUD, we have a saying, you can't be healthy if your home is sick, so we are looking forward to getting submissions from some of our nation's brightest leaders who are committed to creating healthy homes and communities," said HUD Secretary Marcia L. Fudge. "Every day, they work on the front lines to respond to the call of action to help some of our most vulnerable neighbors, so we are anticipating some great and thoughtful entries."

This year, the prestigious Award competition will only have one winner for the first time since it began in 2016. The "winning" nomination must reflect five criteria described on the Award website. The submission deadline, also through the portal below, is July 19. The winning nomination will be announced in August.

Coordinated through HUD's Office of Lead Hazard Control and Healthy Homes (OLHCHH), the HUD Secretary's Award for Excellence in Healthy Homes acknowledges innovative approaches, best practices, policies, research, and community engagement. Nominations for programs and projects are being sought that:

• Have made significant contributions to reduce and improve the health and safety of all Americans, especially residents in disadvantaged communities.

• Show the success of innovative solutions to healthy homes challenges, with quantifiable health, economic, and/or societal outcomes.
• Demonstrate strong partnerships and collaboration; and are replicable in other localities around the nation.

You can find all the details regarding the HUD Secretary's Award for Excellence in Healthy Homes by visiting: Healthy Homes Intro page | HUD USER

You can find the page to submit nominations at: Nomination for Healthy housing | HUD USER

The Award is open to a wide variety of organizations, including state, county, and local units of government, Tribes, local healthcare providers, childcare providers, academia, advocacy entities, philanthropies, community and faith-based non-profits, and others.

During National Healthy Homes Month, HUD is introducing new programs and funding opportunities to enhance the health conditions of residents in federally-assisted properties. These include an investment of over $550 million in eliminating lead hazards, an initiative to expand carbon monoxide monitoring, and the implementation of a new model for inspecting federally-assisted homes, the National Standards for the Physical Inspection of Real Estate (NSPIRE). Learn more about HUD's work to build healthy, sustainable, and affordable communities in today's fact sheet.