About SFMP
The Smoke Free
Milwaukee Project (SFMP) Campaign is a citywide effort to protect all
Milwaukee workers from the harmful effects of secondhand smoke, also
known as environmental tobacco smoke (ETS).
The SFMP Campaign is
an initiative of the Wisconsin Ethnic Network Collaborative (WENC). WENC
addresses tobacco control, specifically, clean indoor air, among its
priority issues. WENC is working with many partners including the Lung
Association of Wisconsin, American Heart Association, American Cancer
Society, Milwaukee Health Department, Milwaukee Public Schools, and Smoke
Free Wisconsin.
SFMP Campaign partners
have all come together in the belief that secondhand smoke has dangerous
health consequences for non-smokers, from triggering asthma attacks to
developing lung cancer and cardiovascular diseases. We support the
notion that everyone has the right to breathe clean air, regardless of
where they work.
The goal of the SFMP
Campaign is to enact a citywide ordinance that will prohibit smoking in
all workplaces. This is not a campaign against smokers, simply an effort
to remove smoking from the work environment so that all employees can
breathe clean air.
With the country moving toward
clean indoor air policies and more evidence mounting of the dangers of
secondhand smoke, representatives of the Wisconsin Ethnic Network
Collaborative (WENC) decided to focus on clean indoor air as its first
health priority. For WENC, this decision was pivotal in two ways;
it complimented WENC’s vision statement and guiding principles, and it
was ideal since the health risks of secondhand smoke disproportionately
affects communities of color.
After a year of strategic planning,
the Smoke Free Milwaukee Project was formed in 2005. To date,
there is no other clean indoor air coalition where communities of color
are at the helm of changing public policy in the United States.
For the last two years, SFMP has
focused on building capacity in communities of color and the larger
community. SFMP educated each other and elected officials
regarding the need for policy change. In April 2005, a city-wide
poll was conducted which revealed that 60% of Milwaukee residents
support clean indoor air laws. This was followed by the
introduction of the smoke free ordinance by Alderman Joe Davis in July
2005. Interestingly, smokers are involved with the coalition.
SFMP is supported by over 50 collaborative partners including the
American Cancer Society, American Lung Association of Wisconsin,
American Heart Association and Smoke Free Wisconsin. Several other
organizations ranging from those in the manufacturing industry to
community and faith-based organizations are also backing this issue.
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