Mayor Thomas Menino announced Friday that the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development granted $2.4 million to the Department of Neighborhood Development, targeting the Lead Safe Boston program.
The grant will be distributed to different areas of the community with $2.3 million going toward fixing lead-based paint hazards in the city’s low- and moderate-income neighborhoods and 175 housing projects, according to a press release on the City of Boston website.
The remaining $100,000 will be used with the help of the Boston Public Health Commission to support the city’s Healthy Homes program, which works with the BHA, to investigate factors contributing to housing conditions in the community, the press release said.
“Boston continues to lead the way on housing issues, and this latest funding award is a great affirmation of our work,” Menino said in the release.
He said that lead poisoning would decrease as a result of the grant.
“Despite the challenge of being a city with older housing stock and weather extremes, we continue to make great progress in the reduction of childhood lead-poisoning in Boston,” he said.
Menino said the grant would allow the city to make more homes safe and healthy for Boston families.
“I want to encourage folks to utilize these important resources and help us eliminate this preventable disease,” he said.
The Department of Neighborhood Development will collaborate with the Boston Public Health Commission, the Mass. Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program and the Inspectional Services department to handle the new donation.
Lead Safe Boston has supported over 2,400 housing units for the past 18 years in eradicating and preventing lead-based paint threats. The group consists of city agencies, faith-based groups, public health departments and non-profits and uses local, state and federal funds.
Lead exposure can cause convulsions, coma and death at high levels, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Lower levels affect the brain, blood cells, the central nervous system and kidneys.
In children, lead poisoning causes delays in physical and mental development, shortened attention spans and increased behavioral problems, according to the EPA.
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