Let Us Breathe – Asthma Awareness Event (March 15, 2025)

On Saturday, March 15th, 2025, Chester Residents Concerned for Quality Living (CRCQL) hosted our 2nd annual Let Us Breathe – Asthma Awareness event at the Chester ACCESS Center (701 Booth St. Chester, PA). Over 60 residents of all ages attended the event, which provided educational information, tips and activities on asthma safety, triggers, and the connection between health issues in the community and industrial pollution.

Thank you to all our community vendors who participated: Widener Physician Assistants, HealthEducated, Trinity House, Delaware County’s Lead Prevention program, Chester Community Charter School, C-4 and others. Chester’s youth soccer team surprised us with a robust donation of fruit for guests to take home.

Information was provided for families on what to do when asthma attacks happen and why asthma is a big issue in Chester. Chester’s youth asthma rate is 5x than the national average due to the cumulative impacts of polluting facilities in the area, including Covanta/Reworld, the largest trash incinerator in the United States.

Speakers shared some daily tips to prevent asthma triggers in the home. Professor Laura Minsky of Haverford College shared sobering analysis of Chester’s public health data compared to national averages, and Nolan Fontaine shared ways to get involved with CRCQL. Our Environmental Justice Youth Group, CHOICES, participated in a skit about asthma with our college students from Campus Coalition Concerning Chester (C-4) and teaching the audience about SWISH, an acronym that guides the students to take step-by-step actions when they have asthma attacks.

C-4 also hosted fun activities including an arts table where youth can make their own balloon lung and learn how a lung works. C-4 also built and gave out 17 Corsi-Rosenthal air filter boxes to residents to help improve air quality in their home.

Thank you to everyone who came out!