Videos

Videos

ATSDR's National Land Reuse Program: Resources to improve community health

This video showcases the Land Reuse Program. It highlights key initiatives and resources, such as:

• Community partnerships
• Technical assistance
• The Environmental Health and Land Reuse Certificate training
• The Land Reuse Toolkits, and
• The Action Model toolkit

Preserving the Past and Building for the Future Healthy Howardville

Land reuse sites can affect communities in many ways. Communities with land reuse sites have concerns about contamination, and they tend to have economic, social, and health disparities. In addition to these potentially harmful exposures and contaminants, businesses, like grocery stores, are often reluctant to build in these areas. People also may be afraid to walk at night because they feel unsafe, or because buildings are unsafe. There may be limited access to health care, which further increases disparities. The Howardville video provides examples of ways this community is engaged in addressing a contaminated site. Their goal is to improve community health.

Engaging Health Departments

Engaging Health Departments in Brownfields/Land Reuse Redevelopment

These three videos highlight ways that local health departments (LHDs) and other health agencies can promote and help build capacity to engage in health-focused land reuse. While larger LHDs may have the capacity to be involved in land reuse work, smaller health agencies may be overburdened and short on resources. They may be unaware of funding that is available to them to work on these land reuse issues. They may also be unaware of ATSDR's support and technical assistance for LHDs.

The examples of projects of state and local health departments representatives may inspire local health departments and health agency staff to become more engaged in brownfields and land reuse:

Introduction: Engaging Health Agencies in Land Reuse

State Health Agencies: Brownfields and Land Reuse Case Studies

Conclusion: Local and Tribal Health Agencies Engagement in Brownfields and Land Reuse

Be Healthy Blue Island

Be Healthy Blue Island

This video highlights how the strong sense of community pride and spirit brought people together to adopt a community health focus. This enthusiasm drove the brownfields redevelopment and revitalization plans. The community of Blue Island used ATSDR's Action Model, a 4-step framework to assess community health related to redevelopment. The examples and community dedication depicted in this video may inspire other communities to repeat the positive projects in their communities.

Tampa and Mulberry, Florida

In the Dream is Possible: Brownfields to Healthfields videos, communities show other communities how they are improving access to health and healthcare through redevelopment. We are hope that communities throughout the country will look at these examples and see Brownfields through a health lens. We hope that this video will provide a tremendous opportunity for your community to use the resources that we have talked about to have a positive impact on the health of your community.

The Dream is Possible Part 1– Brownfields to Healthfields: East Tampa, Florida – East Tampa will discuss the resources they used to have a positive impact on the health of their community:

1. EPA Brownfields and federal stimulus funding to obtain the land
2. Health Resources Services Administration funding to build from the ground up
3. National Health Services Corp to build from the ground up

The Dream is Possible Part 2 – Brownfields to Healthfields: Mulberry, Florida – The City of Mulberry will show the steps that they used to have a positive impact on the health of their community.

1. Conduct a needs assessment
2. Document health disparities
3. Form partnerships
4. Be mentored by other federally qualified health centers
5. Evaluate environmental data of future sites
6. Leverage funding

On April 9, 2015, after five years of working and waiting, the citizens of Mulberry and surrounding communities celebrated the ribbon cutting of the Mulberry Health Center. A broad range of partners including the Central Florida Regional Planning Council, City of Mulberry, Mulberry Concerned Citizens, Central Florida Health Care, US Environmental Protection Agency, Health Resource Services Administration, Department of Agriculture (Community Visioning) and so many more have delivered health care to an area that has been without access for so long.

See the opening of the new Mulberry Health Center

Buffalo, NY

Brownfield Neighborhoods Redeveloping into Healthy Communities in Buffalo, NY

This success story teaches other communities how to promote health and address health disparities through redevelopment. It highlights the success of:

• The New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH)
• ATSDR partnership with the University at Buffalo
• The Buffalo Municipal Housing Authority, and
• The Perry Choice Neighborhood community

Healing Tribal Lands through Brownfileds Revitalization

The United States Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) National Brownfields program and ATSDR partnered to bring you this resource. This video highlights two outstanding environmental successes among Native American Indian Tribes. The tribes are the Cherokee in Tahlequah, Oklahoma and the Jamestown S'Klallam tribe in Sequim, Washington. These stories are outstanding examples of revitalization because these tribes have a natural love for the land and its resources. They also have a passion to ensure their people are healthy, and a determined attitude to be successful. They also have used available brownfields redevelopment programs to make revitalization happen.

Cherokee in Tahlequah, Oklahoma

This is the story of the Cherokee in Tahlequah, Oklahoma's redevelopment of a historically significant property. They ensured the redevelopment was environmentally safe and met needs of the community.

Jamestown S'Klallam tribe in Sequim, Washington

This is the story of the Jamestown S'Klallam tribe transforming an old log yard. The yard had 100 creosote pilings near their tribal center. They redeveloped it into a new opportunity for their shellfish, ceremonial, and subsistence harvesting.

ATSDR Brownfields Webinar

Improving Community Health through Land Reuse and Development

• View Presentation Slides

Learn about:

• ATSDR's free community health tools and training resources that can be customized to meet your community's redevelopment needs.
• Accessing ATSDR's technical experts. They can help you locate and understand existing health and environmental data while also measuring changes in community health.
• Case examples of community projects, the steps they took to improve public health, and the impressive results they have achieved.

For more information

Email the Land Reuse Program at atsdr.landreuse@cdc.gov.