HUD AWARDS NEARLY $2.8 MILLION IN GRANTS TO REDUCE HEALTH AND SAFETY HAZARDS IN OHIO HOMES
Funding will remove or reduce health and safety hazards in homes

CHICAGO - The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development today awarded nearly $2.8 million in grants to children and families living in Ohio from health and safety hazards in their homes. The grants will support efforts to control asthma and allergy triggers such as mold, moisture, mitigate safety hazards in homes, and improve energy efficiency. Grants will also support research to advance methods for hazard reduction.

The grant funding announced today is part of $18 million HUD is awarding nationwide to clean up health hazards in thousands of homes, train workers, and increase public awareness about reducing and preventing health hazards in their homes.

"HUD is committed to providing healthy and safe homes as part of our mission to help make the nation's housing more healthy and sustainable," said HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan. "These grants will help communities to protect families and children from significant health and safety hazards."

"The safety and well-being of families is a top priority for HUD," said Antonio R. Riley, HUD's Midwest Regional Administrator. "We are doing everything in our power to ensure the family home is the healthy sanctuary it should be for Ohio families."

Grant summaries:

Environmental Health Watch will be awarded $929,990 in Healthy Homes Production Grant Program funds to implement the healthy house strategy, simultaneously addressing multiple home hazards with integrated treatments. The project will produce safe and healthy homes, provide healthy house education to physicians, create the training, assessment tools, and institutional support to help make healthy house interventions an on-going part of weatherization work, and provide green and healthy workforce training. Environmental Health Watch will be partnering with Cleveland Department of Community Development, Swetland Center for Environmental Health, Healthy House Advisory Council of Greater Cleveland, and Ohio Weatherization Training Center.

The City of Akron Department of Planning and Urban Development will be awarded $1,860,000 in Healthy Homes Production Grant Program funds to complete cost-effective mediation activities in 250 housing units for very low and low-income, families with children, elderly and adults in Akron, Ohio, located in Summit County Ohio. The APD will partner with area agencies including the County of Summit Department of Community and Economic Development Weatherization Program, Rebuilding Together Greater Cuyahoga Valley, Akron Children's Hospital Medical Center, the SUMMA Health System and SUMMA Foundation, East Akron Neighborhood Development Corporation, Keep Akron Beautiful, Inc., the Akron Fire Department and the Summit County Health District Division of Environmental Health.

Total amount for Ohio: $2,789,990

The funding announced today will go to cities, counties, states and universities to eliminate dangerous health and other safety hazards in thousands of privately-owned, low-income housing units. These funds are provided through HUD's Healthy Homes Production (HHP), Lead and Healthy Homes Technical Studies (LTS, HHTS), and Asthma Interventions in Public and Assisted Multifamily Housing (AIPAMH) grant programs.

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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 espanol.hud.gov. You can also follow HUD on Twitter at @HUDnews or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/HUD, or sign up for news alerts on HUD's News Listserv.