Funding helps to make low-income housing safer and healthier
WASHINGTON, DC – March 2, 2011 – (RealEstateRama) — The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development today is awarding $7.8 million in grants to 14 local projects in nine states to conduct a wide range of activities such as research on the cost effectiveness of home-based interventions for children with asthma and novel strategies for reducing risks from lead-contaminated soil and house dust (see attached). For the first time, HUD is awarding $2 million of those grants to improve indoor environmental conditions and links to education and medical services for asthmatic children and other residents living in public and assisted multifamily housing.
Lead is a known toxin that can impair children’s development and have effects lasting into adulthood. It’s estimated that asthma alone costs the U.S. economy approximately $3.5 billion each year. Approximately 16.4 million Americans currently have asthma, including nearly 7 million children 18 years of age and younger.
“Homes with lead or other health hazards can injure children and worsen conditions such as asthma and HUD wants to ensure that children have a healthy place to call home,” said Jon Gant, Director of HUD’s Office of Healthy Homes and Lead Hazard Control. “These grants will not only help to clean up lead and other home health hazards but will support the development of innovative new approaches to improve and control asthma in children.”
The following is a breakdown of the funding announced today:
|
Grant Program |
Funding Awarded |
|
|
|
| Healthy Homes Technical Studies Grants |
$4,000,000 |
| Lead Technical Studies Grants |
$1,795,831 |
| Asthma Interventions in Public and Assisted Multifamily Housing Grants |
$ 2,060,986 |
|
TOTAL |
$7,856,817 |
Through these three programs, HUD’s Office of Healthy Homes and Lead Hazard Control supports research to eliminate dangerous lead and other key housing-related hazards from lower income homes; improves our knowledge of the benefits of green construction and maintenance practices for low income housing; and stimulates the implementation and evaluation of housing management practices to improve the health of asthmatic children and the quality of life of their caregivers.
The funds announced today are provided through HUD’s, Healthy Homes Technical Studies, Lead Technical Studies, and Asthma Interventions in Public and Assisted Multifamily Housing grant programs.
Even though lead-based paint was banned for use in the home 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.However, lead is not the only danger threatening families and children in the home. Asthma is now recognized as a leading cause of school and work absences, emergency room visits, and hospitalizations that disproportionately impacts low income, minority populations.
The following is a state-by-state breakdown of the funding announced today:
| State | Grantee | Program* | Amount |
| Illinois | University of Illinois-Chicago | HHTS | $896,967 |
| University of Illinois-Chicago | LTS | $499,999 | |
| Sinai Health System | AIPAMH | $549,000 | |
| Louisiana | Tulane University | HHTS | $942,465 |
| Massachusetts | Massachusetts Dept. of Public Health | HHTS | $949,071 |
| Harvard College | HHTS | $942,788 | |
| Univ. of Massachusetts, Lowell | AIPAMH | $424,986 | |
| Minnesota | American Lung Association of the Upper Midwest | AIPAMH | $538,000 |
| New Jersey | SIROM Scientific Solutions, LLC | LTS | $499,694 |
| New York | The New York Academy of Medicine | AIPAMH | $549,000 |
| Ohio | University of Cincinnati | HHTS | $268,709 |
| Rhode Island | The Providence Plan | LTS | $298,000 |
| Texas | The University of Texas at Arlington | LTS | $498,138 |
Grant program abbreviations are as follows:
AIPAMH – Asthma Interventions in Public and Assisted Multifamily Housing
HHTS – Healthy Homes Technical Studies
LTS – Lead Technical Studies
Read complete individual summaries on HUD’s website.
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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.
Contact:
Shanate Goodloe
(202) 708-0685
