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HUD AWARDS $93 MILLION IN GRANTS TO PROTECT THOUSANDS OF CHILDREN FROM LEAD AND OTHER HOME HAZARDS

Funding to make low-income housing safer and healthier

WASHINGTON, DC – September 15, 2011 – (RealEstateRama) — The U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development today awarded $93 million in grants to 39 local projects to conduct a wide range of activities intended to protect children and families from potentially dangerous lead-based paint and other home health and safety hazards. Read a complete project-by-project summary of the programs awarded grants today.

The grant funding announced today will clean up lead and other health hazards in nearly 7,000 high-risk homes, train workers in lead safety methods, and increase public awareness about childhood lead poisoning. Lead is a known toxin that can impair children’s development and have effects lasting into adulthood.

“Protecting the health and well-being of children is a top priority for HUD. We know that housing conditions directly affect the health of its occupants,” said HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan. “These grants will help communities around the nation to protect families from lead exposure and other significant health and safety hazards.”

With these grant awards, HUD makes it clear that providing healthy and safe homes for families and children is a priority. It’s simple: you can’t be healthy if your home is sick. HUD is committed to protecting children from these hazards, as part of the Department’s effort to help make the nation’s housing healthy and sustainable. Along with lead hazard control work, HUD is awarding funds to promote and develop programs to identify and address multiple housing-related health hazards with lead hazard control intervention work.

Through its grant programs, HUD’s Office of Healthy Homes and Lead Hazard Control promotes local efforts to eliminate dangerous lead hazards from lower income homes; stimulates private sector investment in lead hazard control; and educates the public about the dangers of lead-based paint.

Lead Hazard Control Grant Programs

Even though lead-based paint was banned for residential use in 1978, HUD estimates that approximately 24 million homes still have significant lead-based paint hazards today. Lead-contaminated dust is the primary cause of lead exposure and can lead to a variety of health problems in young children, including reduced IQ, learning disabilities, developmental delays, reduced height, and impaired hearing. At higher levels, lead can damage a child’s kidneys and central nervous system and cause anemia, coma, convulsions and even death.

The funding announced today directs critical funds to cities, counties and states to eliminate dangerous lead paint hazards in thousands of privately-owned, low-income housing units. These funds are provided through HUD’s Lead-Based Paint Hazard Control and Lead Hazard Reduction Demonstration grant programs. To expand the reach of HUD’s Lead Hazard Control Program, more than $4 million of this funding will support new grantees. HUD is also providing nearly $2.3 million to help communities transform their lead hazard control programs to address multiple housing-related hazards.

The following is a state-by-state breakdown of the funding announced today:

State

Grantee

Amount

 Arizona  City of Phoenix

$2,475,000

 California  City and County of San Francisco

$2,500,000

 City of Pomona

$2,475,000

 City of South Lake Tahoe

$2,000,000

 County of Alameda

$2,134,863

 City of Fresno

$2,475,000

 Connecticut  State of Connecticut

$3,000,000

 

 City of Waterbury

$2,475,000

 Delaware  City of Wilmington

$2,589,695

 Illinois  City of Chicago

$3,000,000

 Winnebago County Health Department

$2,885,700

 

 County of Peoria

$2,475,000

 

 County of Kane

$1,040,796

 Indiana  Health and Hospital Corporation of Marion County

$3,000,000

 Iowa  City of Davenport

$2,475,000

 

 Polk County

$2,475,000

 

 City of Waterloo

$1,705,557

 Kentucky  Kentucky Department for Public Health

$1,099,971

 Massachusetts  City of Boston

$2,475,000

 City of Lynn

$2,469,051

 Malden Redevelopment Authority-City of Malden

$3,000,000

 Michigan  City of Lansing

$1,728,605

 

 County of Muskegon

$1,100,000

 Minnesota  Hennepin County

$3,000,000

 Missouri  St. Louis Community Development Administration

$3,000,000

 New York  Erie County

$2,375,000

 North Carolina  City of High Point

$2,475,000

 Ohio  City of Columbus

$3,000,000

 Pennsylvania  City of Philadelphia

$3,000,000

 

 Redevelopment Authority of the City of Erie

$2,475,000

 Tennessee  City of Memphis

$3,000,000

 Texas  City of Austin

$2,500,000

 

 City of San Antonio

$3,000,000

 

 County of Harris

$2,700,000

 

 Houston Department of Health and Human Services

$3,000,000

 Vermont  City of Burlington

$2,475,000

 Virginia  City of Petersburg

$1,100,000

 

 City of Roanoke

$1,855,733

 Wisconsin  City of Waukesha

$1,100,000

TOTAL

$93,109,971

 

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HUD’s mission is to create strong, sustainable, inclusive communities and quality affordable homes for all. HUD is working to strengthen the housing market to bolster the economy and protect consumers; meet the need for quality affordable rental homes: utilize housing as a platform for improving quality of life; build inclusive and sustainable communities free from discrimination; and  transform the way HUD does business. More information about HUD and its programs is available on the Internet at www.hud.gov and http://espanol.hud.gov.  You can also follow HUD on twitter @HUDnews, on facebook at www.facebook.com/HUD, or sign up for news alerts on HUD’s News Listserv.

Contact:
Shantae Goodloe
(202)-708-0685