Home

Areas of Activity

Celebra la Ciencia

Child Development

Environment

Health

Helpline

Quality of Life

Reproductive Health

Role Model Science Education Program

Other

Click here to listen to informational radio capsules.

Click here to read our newsletter, Acceso Hispano.

Four out of every 5 U.S. Latinos live in a county in violation of EPA ambient air quality standards. More than 2 million Hispanic household have a primary source of water that is unsafe to drink, and lead levels are 37% higher in Mexican-Americans than in other Americans.

With these concerns in mind, the Self Reliance Foundation, in cooperation with Hispanic Radio Network and various leading environmental organizations including Natural Resource Defense Council, Smart Growth America, Environmental Defense, Physicians for Social Responsibility and Rock the Vote, is participating in a national campaign to mobilize Latinos in the fight for a healthier world, Justicia Ambiental.

As part of its National Hispanic Environmental Health Initiative, SRF also continues to focus on indoor air quality issues relating to asthma prevention and management and Radon poisoning prevention in 2000. Little is known about the impact of the asthma epidemic within the Hispanic community. Many recent immigrants and lower-income Hispanics regularly experience a number of risk factors that contribute to the onset of chronic asthma. For example, many Hispanic homeowners and renters occupy old or substandard housing, which has a higher incidence of Radon leaks.

With the support of the Indoor Environments Division of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, SRF conducted educational media and outreach campaigns promoting awareness of asthma- and Radon-related issues. SRF collaborated with the Hispanic Radio Network to produce Spanish-language educational media capsules and newspaper articles that also carried the toll-free number to SRF's Hispanic Community Resource Helpline. The primary media vehicles were the one-minute radio programs Planeta Azul (Enchanted Planet) and Fuente de Salud (Health Source.) These programs were also supported with editions of La Columna Vertebral (The Support Column).

The EPA also supported an educational Pesticide Risk Education campaign for farmworkers. You can read about this project and listen to the associated Spanish language radio capsules by clicking here.