HUD AWARDS $3 MILLION GRANT TO CITY OF FORT WORTH TO PROTECT CHILDREN FROM LEAD

FORT WORTH - Jon Gant, HUD Assistant Secretary for Healthy Homes and Lead Hazard Reduction, today awarded a $3,000,000 Lead Hazard Reduction Demonstration grant to Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price at today's Fort Worth City Council Meeting. The grant will be used by the City to protect children and families living in low-income housing from potentially dangerous lead-based paint. Nationally, $110,000,000 in lead grants was awarded; Fort Worth was the only grantee in HUD's five-state Southwest Region (Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico and Oklahoma).

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.

"Protecting the health and well-being of children is a top priority for HUD. We know that housing conditions directly affect its residents' health, and this grant will allow the City and its partners to provide a safer living environment for low-income children and their families," said HUD Assistant Secretary Gant.

"Ensuring public safety is the most important thing we do - and that means addressing both the obvious and not so obvious challenges," said Mayor Price. "The health risks associated with lead-based paint are obvious and important to address. This grant will help us do that. It will offer families the peace of mind that their homes will be free of unseen risks to their health, and we thank HUD for its support in this important program."

The City of Fort Worth will use its $3,000,000 Lead Hazard Reduction Demonstration Grantfunding to address lead hazards in 200 low-income units, providing lead-safe homes for families and children. The City will partner with Tarrant County Housing Partnership, United Community Centers, Northside InterChurch Agency, and Cultural Center/Centro Cultural de Las Americas. For more information, contact Fort Worth Housing and Economic Development Director Jay Chapa, (817) 392-5804.

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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 and 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.