CHHC members gathered in Los Angeles on February 27th and 28th for its 2025 Annual Meeting.  Being surrounded by the aftermath of LA’s devastating wildfires was a visceral reminder of the importance of our work to support struggling families and to ensure Californians live in healthy, climate resilient housing.

We were honored to have Coronado Terrazas Cross from Senator Maria Elena Durazo‘s office open our meeting with an inspiring message about the critical role of healthy and affordable housing with strong tenant protections in the state and the importance this work will have during wildfire recovery efforts.

Day one continued with presentations on “Land Use as a Tool for Healthy Housing” with Edgar Camero and Cesar De La Vega from ChangeLab Solutions providing an introduction to land-use and Patricia Hachiya and Thomas Dearborn from the Los Angeles County Department of Regional Planning outlining the County’s Green Zones policy.  The land-use presentations were followed by a presentation by Marybelle Nzegwu Tobias, Principal of Environmental / Justice Solutions, about “Centering Race and Equity in Healthy Housing” focused on their analysis on lead paint risks for the City of Oakland.

We then were joined by Brandon Kitagawa with Regional Asthma Management and Prevention, Janet Scully with the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, and Marta Segura from the City of Los Angeles Climate Emergency Mobilization Office to highlight state and local policies addressing extreme heat and housing.  We then concluded the day with some coalition updates – including presenting CHHC’s first ever Healthy Housing Hero Award to retiring Steering Committee Member, Larry Brooks from the Alameda County Healthy Homes Department – and breakout sessions for each of our workgroups to share and discuss priorities for the year.

We gathered again on day two to learn about the challenges and opportunities of rural code enforcement from Alejandra (Alex) Molina and Pete Roque with 4Leaf, Inc. and Aging in Place programs from Emily Nabors with National Council on Aging.  We then received an update from Washington, DC from Darcy Scott and Sarah Goodwin with the National Center for Healthy Housing about the new federal administration’s impact on healthy housing programs.  This overview set the stage for peer-to-peer discussions about the impacts of those changes on our work, what challenges and opportunities they may present, and the ways the coalition can support member adapt to the new environment.

As always, our one in-person meeting of the year generates a lot of energy, builds and strengthens relationships, and sets the stage for our work together throughout the year.