JACKSON ANNOUNCES $3.4 MILLION TO VIRGINIA ORGANIZATIONS TO PROTECT CHILDREN AND FAMILIES FROM DANGEROUS LEAD AND OTHER HOME HAZARDS

WASHINGTON - Three Virginia organizations will receive a total of more than $3.4 million to protect children and
their families from lead and other health hazards in homes Housing and Urban Development Secretary Alphonso Jackson announced today.

Edenspace Systems Corporation of Chantilly has been awarded a $404,714 HUD Lead Based Paint Hazard Reduction Demonstration Grant; Eastern Virginia Medical School in Norfolk has been awarded a $999,663 Healthy Homes Demonstration Grant; and, the national program of United Parents Against Lead, Inc. in Richmond has been awarded
a $2 million Operation Lead Elimination Action Program. (Project summaries at end of release)

The HUD grants announced today are part of nearly $168 million awarded around the nation to help local
communities to conduct a wide range of activities to improve the conditions of families living in lower income
housing, including:

• 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.

"Every family deserves a safe and healthy home to raise their children," said Jackson. "The funding we announce today will help protect children from dangerous lead, fund important research into healthier housing and will create other public and private investment to improve the living conditions of thousands of homes."

Lead Hazard Control Grant Programs

The funding announced today is part of more than $145 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 $8.9 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 $1.9 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, $1.7 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 has a remarkable track record. Since the program began in 1990, more than 26 million fewer homes have lead-based paint. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that the
number of lead-poisoned children in the U.S. declined by half in the past decade. Today, HUD's program is active in over 115 communities, helping to clean up lead hazards in low-income, privately owned housing.

Healthy Homes Initiative

Every year, children are harmed or become ill at home from a variety of preventable health and safety hazards. For example, childhood diseases such as asthma can be triggered by excessive dust or moisture in the home. Simple
home repairs can often prevent injuries from scalding, electrical shock or carbon monoxide poisoning. HUD's Healthy Homes Initiative addresses a multiple of these and other childhood diseases and injuries in the home by taking a holistic approach and addresses housing-related hazards in a coordinated fashion, rather than addressing a single hazard at a time.

The funding announced today includes more than $6.7 million in demonstration grants to 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 investing more than $2.6 million to support scientific research into new ways of identifying and eliminating health hazards in housing.

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
and espanol.hud.gov.

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Edenspace Systems Corporation of Dulles, Virginia will be awarded $404,714 to investigate the feasibility of
using the latest phytoremediation methods to remove lead from urban yards, evaluating cost, treatment time, and other parameters based on the use of recently-identified substitutes for ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA)
that reduce migration concerns. The study will provide an improved method of soil lead hazard control to
communities, government agencies, and not-for-profit organizations seeking to reduce the health hazards posed nationwide by exterior soil and dust contaminated with lead. The team includes researchers at Edenspace Systems Corporation; New Mexico State University, Baltimore's Coalition to End Childhood Lead Poisoning, and Professor Niall Kirkwood of the Harvard Graduate School of Design and Director, Harvard Center for Environment and Technology. Edenspace Systems Corporation will leverage $104,300 in additional funding. Contact: Mr. Bruce W. Ferguson, President (703) 961-8700.

The Eastern Virginia Medical School will receive a $999,663 grant to conduct a comprehensive home-based education and health intervention project designed to reduce home hazards leading to injury and illness for children living in Public Housing communities in Newport News, Virginia. The primary partner will be the Newport News Redevelopment and Housing Authority (NNRHA) who will provide support through their Maintenance and Community Resource Departments. The target areas for this grant are located in the Southeast Community of Newport News, Virginia. The specific sites chosen by the grant recipient are the Harbor Homes, Marshall Court, and Ridly Place communities. These communities were chosen because they have the largest numbers of female head of
households, minorities, low income families, and families with children under the age of 18 in the City of Newport News. The focus of the grant will be on decreasing children's exposure to multiple household hazards to include allergens and asthma, combustion products of heating and cooking utensils, insect- and rodent-pests, mold and moister and unintentional injuries/fire. The period performance shall be three years. Contact: Judith Taylor-Fishwick (757) 668-6459.

United Parents Against Lead National, Inc. (UPAL) of Richmond, Virginia will be awarded $2,000,000. The project will launch innovative leveraging strategies that empower low-income communities through business development, job training an job creation in Lead Hazard Reduction/Abatement, building the capacity within the community to undertake activities that will eliminate lead hazards in homes occupied or frequented by children age
6 and below. UPAL will target Section 3 businesses and develop partnerships with Housing Preservation and Development Corporation and the Richmond Career Advancement Center. UPAL will hold an annual Abate-A-Thon
as a creative way to involve the general public, educate and train volunteers in a special lead hazard control event. UPAL plans to leverage $3,525,000 in private sector cash and in kind contributions for this project. Contact: Zakia Shabazz (804) 714-1618.