Lincoln NE Gets Grant To Protect Children and Families from Lead-Based Paint Hazards

One of the biggest dangers to children and adults in their homes can be lead-based hazards. According to the CDC:

Exposure to high levels of lead may cause anemia, weakness, and kidney and brain damage. Very high lead exposure can cause death. Lead can cross the placental barrier, which means pregnant women who are exposed to lead also expose their unborn child. Lead can damage a developing baby’s nervous system.

In older housing units, the lead-based hazards may be especially prevalent. The Department of Housing and Urban Development has awarded a $3,400,000 grant to protect children and families from lead-based paint hazards.

Some background:

Regional Administrator Mohr spoke on this grant being awarded:

Protecting families from lead-based paint and other health hazards is one of the Department’s agency priority goals, and the City of Lincoln, NE has made it a priority as well.

This is the City’s first grant with the prospect of many more to follow. HUD applauds the City’s effort to ensure that these children have every opportunity for healthy development.”

The funds for this grant will come through the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Lead-Based Paint Hazard Reduction (LBPHR) Grant Program, as well as HUD’s Healthy Homes Supplemental funding.

Lincoln Mayor Gaylor Baird also spoke on this grant award, saying:

Mitigating the risk of lead poisoning is important to work as we seek to create a better quality of life for present and future generations. We are grateful for HUD’s support of our effort that will improve the health and safety of Lincoln’s children.

Here’s how this will be implemented:

Lincoln City Staff will work together with social services and medical staff to assess dangerous lead hazards in nearly 70 housing units that act as homes for low-income and very-low-income families with children.

HUD’s Office of Lead Hazard Control and Healthy Homes, which awarded the grant serves several purposes through it’s grant programs:

  • promotes local efforts to eliminate dangerous lead paint and other housing-related health hazards from lower-income homes
  • stimulates private sector investment in lead hazard control
  • supports cutting-edge research on methods for assessing and controlling housing-related health and safety hazards
  • educates the public about the dangers of hazards in the home

Additional grants for children and families are listed at the following link: https://www.grantwatch.com/cat/4/children-grants.html

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