Each month, we highlight a new Supermom of the Month, a member who has gone above and beyond to advocate for clean air and children’s health. Our members in states across the country are more important than ever as we work to protect the hard-fought clean air and climate investments of the last four years. Will you join us?
This month, we are celebrating Rachel Steuer. Rachel was nominated by Wisconsin Field Organizer Jayne Black for being a fierce indoor air quality advocate in her city and across the state.
At her child’s daycare, she mobilized other parents to advocate for air purifiers in the classrooms—and make their own! She also joined Moms to testify at the Capitol in Madison in support of an indoor air quality and inspection bill that would clean up the air in our children’s schools and beyond.
Tell the House: Support the Indoor Air Quality and Healthy Schools Act
We asked Rachel a few questions about her motivation and activism:
Why did you join Moms?
After I became a mother, it became clear to me I needed to step up in a bigger way to fight for a better future for not only my child, but all children. I was looking to become involved in a statewide initiative to improve indoor air quality and had the fortune of meeting the lead organizer for Moms in Wisconsin, Jayne Black.
Jayne had been working on writing a bill with her state legislators to monitor and improve indoor air quality standards, especially for schools, in our state. Jayne’s dedication, the experiences of motherhood that she shared with me, and my own child all inspired me to testify in support of our statewide bill and look into more volunteer opportunities to further this cause.
How did you first become interested in environmental and air quality issues?
I became a mom in April 2020, when my beautiful daughter, Aria, was born. It was a terrifying time, the beginning of the COVID-19 lockdown. My husband and I were forced to make decisions we had never anticipated when we dreamed of becoming parents.
I started following the pandemic research, learning how the virus, like other viruses, was airborne. I was driven by love to keep my child safe, in a time when young children did not have access to vaccines and could not mask effectively.
When we had to place our child in daycare, I worked to put a DIY HEPA filter, the Corsi-Rosenthal box, in each classroom she was in.
Then in the summer of 2023, there were air quality alerts in our area almost every week because of the wildfire smoke blowing in from the Canadian fires. It woke me up to realizing how the issues overlapped—air pollution outside can and does find its way inside—and how coalition building across issues was needed to improve indoor air quality standards.
How do you see the connection between air quality and public health?
We can accept and implement measures to improve air quality now so our children have a better shot at the future. We know global warming will continue to impact the children of today and the future, and this is coupled with the prediction of future pandemics. Although folks have varying views on vaccines and on how to improve health outcomes, improving air quality is a widely accepted solution.
Air pollution is a community problem that can easily be solved with preventative measures now. Improving air quality will lessen long-term health impacts and reduce asthma and other chronic conditions caused by pollutants. It is an investment in our future.
What do you think is the biggest challenge in raising awareness about air quality among the broader public?
I think it is similar to the issues we’ve faced with improving water quality. There was once resistance to germ theory and handwashing, as well as cleaning our water. Often folks don’t see the impact until it directly affects them, and the science seems to take a while to take hold in the public mind.
But we cannot wait for the impacts to be felt individually. We need to demonstrate and continue to fight for improvements to air quality so we do not all suffer. There are opportunities to build coalitions with public health experts, environmentally minded folks, parents and caregivers, and HVAC professionals. There are so many niche people that can help play a role in cleaning the air we breathe. We simply need to continue to build the movement and bring people on board.
How do you involve your kids in environmental education or awareness?
Luckily for me, back in 2021, another parent at my daycare was also interested in improving indoor air quality. She happened to be a student at the local public university. Our daycare is part of the university as well.
This parent worked with the daycare director to implement a research project to get HEPA filters in each classroom to study the reduction of viral illnesses. In this process, the children got to build one of their own Corsi-Rosenthal boxes, in addition to the other HEPA filters installed. We had ongoing conversations with our child about the impacts of these filters, coupled with how pollution and viruses are the reason we need them. We led by example of creating a safer space for all children at the daycare.
Tell the House: Support the Indoor Air Quality and Healthy Schools Act