WASHINGTON, DC – December 23, 2010 – (RealEstateRama) — Today, U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Shaun Donovan announced that more than 3,800 children are safe from dangerous lead-based paint hazards and other health and safety risks due to grants from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 and HUD’s Office of Healthy Homes and Lead Hazard Control.
Split into two categories, lead hazard control and healthy homes grants provided nearly $100 million to 53 local programs in 20 states and the District of Columbia to protect children from lead and other health and safety hazards and create jobs. These grants have already assisted more than 3,800 children, exceeding the program’s original goal of 3,500. With more than 15 months to expend remaining Recovery Act funding, grantees will be able to protect thousands more children from health and safety risks. To view a summary of local programs and the number of children helped per grantee, visit HUD’s website.
“Through the Recovery Act, this funding has made significant progress in providing safer and healthier homes for children in our nation’s communities,” said Donovan. “At HUD we’re not only dedicated to removing these health and safety risks from homes, but also investing in research to study how new technologies can help benefit indoor environmental health for all families.”
HUD allocated more than $80 million in lead hazard reduction grants to states, Indian tribes and local governments to fund comprehensive programs that identify and control lead-based paint hazards in privately owned homes or rental houses. In addition, $2.6 million of the lead hazard reduction grant funding targets communities with the highest lead risks and provides abatement, inspections, risk assessments, temporary relocations and interim control of lead-based paint hazards for low income families living in eligible privately-owned, as well as single family and multifamily housing units.
The Recovery Act’s healthy homes grants also provided over $19 million to develop, demonstrate and promote cost effective and preventive measures to correct multiple safety and health hazards in homes that produce serious diseases and injuries, such as asthma, in children. These grants were provided to state and local governments, housing authorities, and colleges and universities to remediate homes, including low-income households, of health hazards.
Secretary Donovan and the Department are committed to providing the highest level of transparency possible as Recovery Act funds are administered. It is vitally important that the American people are fully aware of how their tax dollars are being spent and can hold their federal leaders accountable. Every dollar of Recovery Act funds HUD spends can be reviewed and tracked at HUD’s Recovery Act website. The full text of HUD’s funding notices and tracking of future performance of these grants is also available at HUD’s Recovery Act 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:
Ashley Gammon
202-708-0685
