Matthew Stewart (904) 232-2627 |
For
Release Thursday October 2, 2003 |
MARTINEZ ANNOUNCES $147 MILLION TO PROTECT CHILDREN AND
FAMILIES FROM DANGEROUS LEAD AND OTHER HOME HEALTH AND SAFETY HAZARDS
Record funding kicks off October as National Healthy Homes Month
Jacksonville, Florida receives $2,196,000
JACKSONVILLE - Thousands of children and families in
27 states and the District of Columbia will live in healthier
homes
due to more than $147 million in grants announced today by Housing
and Urban Development Secretary Mel Martinez. Martinez made today's
record funding announcement to officially launch National Healthy
Homes Month during October. The City of Jacksonville received $2,196,000,
for its Lead Hazard Control Program.
The grants will help 70 local programs around the country to remove
potentially dangerous lead from lower income homes; to stimulate
private sector investment in lead hazard control; to educate the
public about the dangers of lead-based paint; to fund model programs
promoting healthier and safer home environments; and, to support
scientific research into innovative methods of identifying and eliminating
health hazards in housing (see attached
list).
"Whether it's eliminating lead hazards in housing or studying new ways to make our homes healthier, the funds we announce today are all designed to protect our most precious resource - our children," said Martinez. "Today we continue HUD's investment in making our homes a healthier and safer place for parents to raise their kids."
Lead Hazard Control Grant Programs
The funding announced today includes $124 million 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 the Lead Hazard Reduction Demonstration
grant programs
In addition, HUD's Operation LEAP (Lead Elimination Action Program)
will provide $9.9 million to stimulate private
sector contributions
that will enable children to grow up in homes that are free from
lead-based paint hazards. HUD will also award $2.4 million in Lead
Outreach grants to support public education campaigns on the hazards
of lead-based paint and what parents, building owners and others
can do to protect children. Further, $2.8 million will assist local
research institutions to study ways to drive down the cost and increase
the effectiveness of lead hazard identification and control.
HUD's lead hazard control program is working. Today, the Department
estimates that 26 million fewer homes have lead-based paint compared
to 1990 when the program began. Last year, the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention reported that the average amount of lead
in children's blood has declined by 50 percent from a decade ago.
Ten years ago, there was no federal funding for local lead hazard
control work in privately owned housing;
today, the HUD program
is active in over 250 communities across the country.
Healthy Homes Initiative
HUD's Healthy Homes Initiative builds upon the Department's existing activities in housing-related health and safety issues - including lead hazard control, building structural safety, electrical safety, and fire protection - to address multiple childhood diseases and injuries in the home. The Initiative takes a holistic approach to these activities by addressing housing-related hazards in a coordinated fashion, rather than addressing a single hazard at a time.
Included in the funding announced today is more than $5.9 million
in demonstration grants to help local communities identify and eliminate
housing conditions that contribute to children's disease and injury,
such as asthma, lead poisoning, mold exposure, and carbon monoxide
contamination. HUD is also providing more than $2 million in
technical
studies grants to support scientific research into innovative methods
of identifying and eliminating health hazards in housing.
The following is a breakdown of the funding announced today:
Lead Hazard Control |
$74,440,466
|
Lead Hazard Reduction Demonstration |
$49,675,000
|
Operation LEAP |
$9,935,000
|
Lead Outreach |
$2,402,972
|
Healthy Homes Demonstration |
$5,916,355
|
Healthy Homes Technical Studies |
$2,009,272
|
Lead Technical Studies |
$2,874,123
|
Total |
$147,253,188
|
The City of Jacksonville will be awarded $2,196,000 to make 600
housing units lead-safe. Grant funds will be used
to expand the
city's partnership with public and private sector organizations
to proactively respond to lead hazard concerns, build community
capacity for primary prevention of childhood lead poisoning through
community-based health education, associated housing rehabilitation
and energy conservation, job training, employment, economic development,
and occupational health and safety (lead safe work practices). The
Planning and Development Department, Housing Services Division of
the City of Jacksonville will be aided by the Duval County Health
Department - Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program, the
Housing Partnership of Jacksonville, the Lead
Alliance of Duval
County, the Salvation Army, the Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce
Small Business Center, the
Duval County Citizen's Health Advisory
Committee and WorkSource to implement the program. The City of
Jacksonville
will contribute $356,048 in local matching funds.
HUD is the nation's housing agency committed to increasing homeownership,
particularly among minorities, creating affordable housing opportunities
for low-income Americans, supporting the homeless, elderly, people
with disabilities and people living with AIDS. The Department also
promotes economic and community development as well as
enforces
the nation's fair housing laws. More information about HUD and its
programs is available on the Internet.
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See HUD's national news release for a state-by-state breakdown of the funding announced today.