Genesee County Health Department
Better Life Through Better Health
Release Date: Immediate Release
Kill Date:
September 15, 2006
Contact
Person:
Ann Goldon
Phone:
(810)
341-5898
RE:
First Centrum Communities is First National Apartment
Development/Management Company to Adopt Smoke-Free Policy
First
Centrum Communities announced that, effective
September 1, 2006
, all new residents in any of their 49
apartment communities will sign leases which state that they and their
guests will not smoke anywhere inside the apartment building, including in
their apartment, or anywhere on the grounds.
First Centrum Communities manages 5,452 apartment units in 6
states, with 15 buildings in
Michigan
. First
Centrum is among the 35 largest Senior Housing Managers in the nation,
according to American Seniors Housing Association.
"The
landmark announcement today by First Centrum Communities that they are
adopting a smoke-free policy for all 49 of their apartment communities in
6 states – MI, VA, MD, NC, TN & IL – is a giant step by a leader
in the affordable housing field. No
other major, national apartment development and management company has
done this before. We applaud
First Centrum for being a leader in adopting a policy to protect their
residents from the health dangers of secondhand smoke and from the fire
hazards caused by cigarettes," said Jim Bergman, the director of the Smoke-Free
Environments Law Project (SFELP) of The Center for Social Gerontology,
Inc., (TCSG), in
Ann Arbor
,
Michigan
.
The
catalyst for the adoption of this new policy was the request by residents
at the
Courthouse
Square
apartment building in
Ann Arbor
,
MI
for a
smoke-free building. Working
with them were the Smoke-Free Environments Law Project and the Fair
Housing Center of Southeastern Michigan.
Together, they approached First Centrum's management and explained
the health and business reasons why a smoke-free policy made sense for
residents and First Centrum. After
completing a thorough analysis of the proposal, First Centrum concluded
that a smoke-free policy would create a healthier community and would
benefit everyone. While the
new policy applies only to new tenants, over a short period of time, all
the buildings will become totally smoke-free as current residents who are
smokers move out.
Ruth
Darcy, a resident of the 116-unit
Courthouse
Square
apartments in
Ann
Arbor
said:
"When I joined the advocacy group for making
Courthouse
Square
a
smoke-free building, I expected another long drawn out bureaucratic
process, but to my surprise, and true delight, First Centrum was amazingly
responsive to our needs. Since
my floor was the first to become smoke-free, I know the relief of not
having smoke coming in every time the door opens, and the freedom from
having to use multiple asthma medications."
Health
Education Coordinator, Ann Goldon, of the Genesee County Health
Department, stated, “I receive complaint calls from non-smoking tenants
forced to live in smoke polluted apartments.
Breathing is especially difficult for those with asthma or other
respiratory illness. To my
knowledge, there are no smoke-free apartment buildings in
Genesee
County
.
Buildings like Centrum’s would certainly provide relief and a
healthier environment for apartment residents.”
For more information visit www.mismokefreeapartment.org.
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