A BIG PROBLEM: MOLDY MILITARY HOUSING

The story of sinus and respiratory problems, fatigue, headaches, constant cold etc is all too common for those living in privatized military housing these days. We just experienced this fact after moving for my husband’s job and within 1 ½ months, we were displaced from our home due to high levels of mold in our on base privatized home. The company itself has denied any problems with our home. They stated it had no history of water damage, although, while we lived there, it was obvious that they were incorrect in their assessment. An ERMI test confirmed our suspected mold problem as did our symptoms of increased fatigue, sinus problems, headaches, constant colds, and increased respiratory problems for example. We informed the privatized housing office ahead of time that we were black mold sensitive and we still received a moldy home. There is a big problem.

Mid February the Senate Armed Services Committee convened to hear military families discussing black mold, rats, faulty wiring and other substandard living conditions in their on base housing. The Federal News Network reported on the Senate Armed Services committee meetings with an article Lawmakers Find Systemic Issues as Military Families Suffer in On-Base Housing.  Also, military.com recently wrote an article Mold, Lead, and Vermin: Survey Finds Toxic Conditions in Military Housing.

If families are not supported with healthy housing, then it jeopardizes the military member’s readiness. Families cannot support themselves, with a deployed spouse when families are suffering from toxic mold related health problems. My family is not the only one suffering from mold exposure. There are others ….

We need to 1^st educate people concerning what initial mold exposure symptoms looks like: constant cold, respiratory problems, fatigue, headaches, sinus problems etc are initial signs that a problem may exist with your house. The keys questions are 1) when you leave your house for extended trips, do those symptoms go away? 2) Have you tried, getting to the root of your problems by visiting the doctor at no avail? Typical conventional MDs have no idea that mold exposure can cause so many problems. With my eldest son, his cough continually evolved and we took him over and over to the pediatrician to figure out why he had this cough. Eventually we took him to the allergist. The allergist did allergy testing and concluded he had no allergy problems and his cough was “in his head”. My son is not the only one with this story…

We also need to educate people concerning the serious long-term health problems resulting from with living in a moldy house. Mold exposure can in the long term cause countless physical ailments like Chronic fatigue, MS, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Autism, Hyperactivity, chronic respiratory problems, etc… Typical conventional MDs have no idea that mold is the cause of SO many health problems and they typically give little to no support for families going through mold exposure and it’s aftermath.

What can we do now? For those in potentially moldy homes, 1) do an ERMI AccuCloth  test, which tests the mold dust levels of your home. It is the most reliable way to test average mold levels in your house. 2) Speak to your Garrison leadership about the issue. Due to the recent Senate hearings, the military leadership has increased awareness about potential issues. In our region, the military is offering free house inspections to anyone in on base housing concerned there may be a problem with their house.

We can also continue to speak out to our Senators and Congress people on behalf of those suffering from mold exposure from living at on base privatized housing. With a voice, people will be heard. There can be change. Senator Thom Tillis recently spoke to military command at the SASC hearing on Safe Military Housing. The government is realizing the problem is bigger than initially thought. People need to speak out about their suffering in order to be heard. We need to stop the cycle of mold exposure, which happens over and over again when new families move into the same moldy homes. This is the time…