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Sixteenth Street Community Health Center

John J. Bartkowski
CEO
1032 S. 16th St. at S. Cesar E. Chavez Dr.
Milwaukee, WI 53204
Phone: (414) 672-1353
Fax: (414) 672-9190
URL: http://www.sschc.org

Mission Statement

 
The mission of the Sixteenth Street Community Health Center is to improve the health and well-being of Milwaukee's Near South Side residents by providing quality, family-based health care, health education and social services, free from linguistic, cultural and economic barriers.

  • Geographic focus: Milwaukee
  • No membership
  • Other organizational activities (not directed specifically toward children): health education, social services

    • Children's Environmental Health Activities

    		 
    As a community-based health center, Sixteenth Street is dedicated to serving the needs of residents who live in the low-income multicultural neighborhood that surrounds the clinic. Programs and services offered through the Sixteenth Street's Department of Environmental Health focus on children and include advocacy, education, housing and economic development activities related to the health of the community as a whole. The Department of Environmental Health works collaboratively with municipal, state and federal agencies to gather information about environmental conditions which affect the neighborhood and has assembled a complete demographic/socioeconomic profile of the neighborhood as well as information on air and water quality and solid/hazardous waste sites within the community. The Department also works in partnership with other locally based organizations, the school system and the private sector to provide education and services about environmental health issues to community residents.

    Environmental health problems addressed by the Center include high rates of asthma and respiratory illness, lead poisoning and toxic exposures. More than half of the clients served at the Center are children under the age of 12 and the patient population is 75% Hispanic, 13% white, 7% Southeast Asian, 3% African American and 2% Native American and Middle Eastern. The center is often the only source of medical care, health care information and education for community residents who have a primary language other than English. Because of language, financial or educational limitations, residents may not be able to receive or act on information provided through traditional main-stream media about environmental hazards which can affect their health or the health of their children.

    Environmental hazards that can affect health in the neighborhood include poor air and water quality. The neighborhood is located within a federally designated severe non-attainment area for ozone and has three times the vehicular traffic of other areas of the county, which also contributes to poor air quality. The Milwaukee Harbor and two rivers which run through the neighborhood have heavily contaminated sediments, which can result in contact exposure to children swimming, as well as strict do-not-eat consumption advisories for locally caught fish. Specific programs and partnerships include:

    Air Quality and Asthma: Correlation of children's health information at the clinic with data on outdoor air quality provided by two small particulate air monitors located at Sixteenth Street. These monitors are part of the extensive air quality monitoring network maintained by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and will provide some of the first data on small particulate matter PM2.5 in Wisconsin.

    Lead Poisoning Prevention: Community-based outreach workers make door-to-door visits in targeted areas based on population density and numbers of young children. Children under age six are tested for lead poisoning, a home inspection for lead paint hazards is conducted and education is provided to the family on how to avoid lead exposure. Appropriate referrals and follow-up visits have given families the tools they need to manage lead exposure for their children. More than 80% of the children tested for a second time through this project did not show an increase in their blood lead level. Project workers also make presentations to schools and child care sites. The project is expanding in partnership with the City of Milwaukee Health Department, to implement lead paint abatement work on homes in the neighborhood, with funding from a grant from the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

    Community-Based Brownfield Redevelopment: The Department of Environmental Health provides staff support and coordination for community-based Brownfield Redevelopment. This includes identification of sites which pose a hazard as attractive nuisances to children, outreach to the community and facilitation of remedial work. Staff has provided support for policy development at the state and local level and advocates for maintaining a strong community linkage as remedial work proceeds and marketing of sites for development occurs.

    Environmental Health Education and Outreach: Public information is provided on an ongoing basis on lead poisoning prevention and consumption of contaminated fish. Information is provided to medical providers at the Center on an as-needed basis and special initiatives have been conducted on radon testing, ozone alerts and action days and ritual use of mercury. Presentations on lead poisoning, Brownfield redevelopment and other environmental health concerns in the neighborhood are regularly scheduled.

    Please note: the information presented above was provided and reviewed for accuracy by Sixteenth Street Community Health Center and was not verified independently by the Children's Environmental Health Network.
    Publication date: 5/5/99