The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) awarded nearly $165 million to 44 state and local government agencies in 23 states to protect children and families from lead-based paint and home health hazards, including nearly $8 million to the State of Michigan.
HUD is providing these grants through its Lead Based Paint Hazard Reduction (LBPHR) Grant Program to identify and clean up dangerous lead in low-income families’ homes. These grants also include more than $17 million from HUD’s Healthy Homes Supplemental funding to help communities with housing-related health and safety hazards in addition to lead-based paint hazards.
These investments will protect families and children by targeting significant lead and health hazards in over 14,000 low-income homes for which other resources are not available.
“Today, we are renewing our commitment to improving the lives of families, and especially, their children by creating safer and healthier homes,” said HUD Secretary, Dr. Ben Carson. “At HUD, one of our main priorities is to protect families from lead-based paint and other health hazards, and these grants will help states and local communities do precisely that.”
“There is a strong connection between health and housing,” said Michelle Miller, Acting Director of HUD’s Office of Lead Hazard Control and Healthy Homes. “These grants provide a critical resource to communities to identify and clean up housing-based health hazards such as from lead-based paint and mold.”
The City of Battle Creek was awarded $3 million in the Lead Based Paint Hazard Reduction grant program and an additional $400,000 in Healthy Homes for a total of $3.4 million. These funds will help the city address lead hazards in 85 housing units, providing safer homes for low and very low-income families with children. In addition, the city will work with other medical and social service providers.
“We at HUD understand the importance of the intersection between health and housing and are deeply committed to protecting families and children across the City of Battle Creek and the State of Michigan so they can reach their full potential,” said HUD Midwest Regional Administrator Joseph P. Galvan.
“Thanks to the wonderful teamwork of our local Lead Task Force, we know how dangerous lead exposure can be to our children, especially during their early years of growth and development,” said Battle Creek Mayor Mark Behnke. “I am thrilled that city’s and community’s program can continue to remove these dangerous hazards from our homes and educate our families.”
HUD’s Office of Lead Hazard Control and Healthy Homes 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; and educates the public about the dangers of hazards in the home. Read a complete project-by-project summary of the programs awarded grants.
Following is the funding awarded to Michigan:
State | Grantee | Lead Hazard Control Amount | Healthy Homes Amount | Total Amount |
Michigan | City of Lansing | $4,589,940 | $0 | $4,589,940 |
City of Battle Creek | $3,000,000 | $400,000 | $3,400,000 |
Michigan Total | 7,589,940 | 400,000 | $7,989,940 |
National Total | $146,259,323 | $17,612,280 | $163,871,604 |