EPA Mid-Atlantic Selects CHOP’s CAPP+ Home Repairs Program as First-Ever “Asthma Community Champion”

The Community Asthma Prevention Program Plus (CAPP+) Home Repairs Program at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) has been named the inaugural Asthma Community Champion by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Mid-Atlantic Region’s Asthma Program.

Before and after images of kitchen cabinet repair by CAPP+ Home Repair “We are honored to receive this award from the EPA Mid-Atlantic Region’s Asthma Program,” said Tyra Bryant-Stephens, MD, Director and Founder of CHOP’s Community Asthma Prevention Program (CAPP) and Senior Director for the Center of Health Equity. “Through the CAPP+ Home Repairs program, we are committed to addressing the root causes of asthma in our families’ homes. We partner with minority-owned contracting companies to eliminate asthma triggers, with the goal of also reducing emergency department visits and hospital stays.”

The EPA Mid-Atlantic Region works with partners to promote asthma awareness and education. To acknowledge the efforts and progress of these partners, the agency created the “Asthma Community Champion” this year to recognize important work in asthma management.

CHOP’s CAPP+ Program is an extension of CAPP, which serves low-income and under-resourced communities in Philadelphia. Many Philadelphia neighborhoods have high asthma prevalence and hospitalization rates, affecting approximately one out of four children in West Philadelphia alone.

As part of CHOP’s Healthier Together Initiative, CAPP+ offers home repair services to qualifying patients in these West Philadelphia neighborhoods, with the aim of removing environmental triggers to reduce asthma symptoms and hospitalizations. The program provides extensive in-home remediation services that target mold, pest entry-points, and dust by repairing roofs, fixing plumbing leaks, replacing carpeting with vinyl-plank flooring and more, improving the quality of life for children with asthma and their families.

Read the EPA’s Success Story here.