What does a healthier New York State look like?
To celebrate Children’s Environmental Health Day on Thursday October 8th, 2026 nyscheck.org sought creative people of all ages to share their visions of what a healthy community looks like.
Environmental health considers pollutants in air, water, food and other consumer products; healthy homes, schools, workplaces and neighborhoods; and social determinants such as poverty and racism.
See the gallery below.
Artists created original artwork that captured their vision in one of two categories:
Healthy Neighborhoods
What do neighborhoods and community gathering spaces that are healthy and resilient for people look like? What are solutions or ways that you can imagine to make our neighborhoods healthier?
The New York State Department of Health runs the successful NYS Healthy Neighborhoods Program (HNP) in New York City and 17 counties (Broome, Cattaragus, Cayuga, Clinton, Columbia, Cortland, Erie, Genesee, Madison, Monroe, Niagara, Onondaga, Orange, Rockland, Shenectady, Seneca, and Tompkins). This program provides in-home assessments and interventions to reduce negative health outcomes from asthma, indoor air quality, childhood lead poisoning prevention, and injury prevention.
This program has been very successful: just for asthma, in homes that receive HNP visits, kids with asthma missed 2.5 fewer days of school and yielded over $1,000 in in savings for medicaid managed care plans, meaning less doctor and hospital visits, and less need for medications! You can learn more about New York State’s Healthy Neighborhood Program here: Healthy Neighborhoods Program
Healthy Homes
What do homes, apartments, shelters, and other types of housing that are healthy for people look like to you? What can you tell us about problems and around building and maintaining health spaces where people live, and how do you imagine fixing homes that need help becoming healthier?
The New York City Department of Housing Preservation & Development runs a Lead Hazard Reduction & Healthy Homes – Primary Prevention Program (PPP) that offers federally funded grants for reduction of lead paint hazards to owners of eligible residential buildings constructed prior to 1960. This program exists to assist owners in reducing lead paint hazards to prevent childhood lead poisoning. New York City and New York State also have excellent resource pages about how to improve housing quality and reduce environmental exposures in homes to support the health of children and families.
To learn more:
- Healthy Homes Resources for New York City Families – NYSCHECK
- Lead Hazard Reduction and Healthy Homes Program – HPD
- NYC Health Healthy Homes Resources: Healthy Homes – NYC Health
- NYS Healthy Homes Resources: Healthy Homes
Individual Showcase Winners for 2026:
The winners are:
Cafeteria Culture & PS/MS 188 NYC
Nyla NYC – High School
Nelson; NYC – 6th Grade
Jenna Western NY – Home-schooled
Anna – Capitol Region K-5
Shuta – Capital Region K-5
Harpinder – Long Island – NSA Alumni
Olivia – Long Island – K-5
Luna – NYC – 5th Grade
LSA Camp Cada Paso Students – NYC – K-5
All Submissions for 2026:
