children don’t need emergency care. The educator helped the boy make a plan so he could remember his medicine. In the year after he received help, the teenager has managed the disease and has not returned to the emergency department, Dr. Bryant- Stephens says. CAPP has received a lot of national attention for its work. Besides making home visits, the asthma community health workers and educators hold classes in schools and in Philadelphia neighborhoods. The result? Children are healthier and need fewer visits to the hospital, says Dr. Bryant-Stephens. Working with families has taught Dr. Bryant- Stephens a lot about being practical in treating asthma. For instance, she had suggested one method of getting rid of cockroaches that made parents laugh. They told her some suggested treatments actually attract roaches. She also learned that some families own cats because they need them to go after mice, even though both can be triggers for asthma. It may not be so simple to get rid of a cat. “You can’t control the neighborhood,” she says. “You have to be reasonable.” She wants children to know that asthma should not limit their possibilities. They just need to know how to control it so breathing is easier. —By Joshua Charles, Nicholas Leone, Tracy Phan, and Rebecca Wusinich Highland Park Healthy Hawk Illustration by Rejha Khan, Highland Park Healthy Hawk