Allegheny Junior Gives Presentation at White House Rural Health Roundtable

MEADVILLE, PA (09/13/2011)(readMedia)-- Allegheny College junior Ashley Baronner represented Allegheny College and the Healthy Homes-Healthy Children (HHHC) initiative at a White House Rural Health roundtable discussion in Harrisburg in August.

Baronner is majoring in biology at Allegheny, with a self-designed interdisciplinary minor in environmental public health. She is from Duncansville, Pa.

Roundtables were hosted around the country with cabinet members in response to President Obama's executive order establishing the first White House Rural Council, which was instituted to address strategic issues that affect rural communities and to promote improved health and education in communities that face significant health inequities. The roundtables enable rural health leaders to engage in a meaningful discussion that will help inform the council's ongoing work.

Baronner presented information at the roundtable about HHHC and its research and home assessment program, which are overseen by Caryl Waggett, associate professor of environmental science at Allegheny College.

The White House Rural Council will compile the information from these best-practices presentations to showcase opportunities that can be used to address some of the many health and economic challenges facing rural communities across the nation.

Healthy Homes-Healthy Children was founded to support parents from northwest Pennsylvania in their efforts to ensure their families' health. The program provides free in-home assessments to anyone within the Crawford County region for lead, mold, radon and other home health hazards and conducts ongoing research to assess risks and effective strategies to reduce risks to children from their home environment. In addition to educating the public about practices that will turn their homes into healthier and safer environments for children, HHHC conducts educational outreach to primary and secondary schools, preschools and day cares and offers professional development opportunities with continuing education units (CEUs) and Act 48 credits.

The 32nd oldest college in the nation, Allegheny will celebrate its bicentennial in 2015. One of the 40 schools featured in Loren Pope's "Colleges That Change Lives," Allegheny also is included among the 100 "best values" in national liberal arts colleges by Kiplinger's, a private financial advising company.