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HUD ANNOUNCES NEARLY $10 MILLION IN GRANTS TO PROTECT THOUSANDS OF CHILDREN FROM DANGEROUS LEAD AND OTHER HOME HAZARDS IN ST. LOUIS
Funding aimed at programs helping to make low-income housing safer and healthier

ST LOUIS- The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has awarded nearly $10 million in grants to five local projects in the metro St. Louis area to conduct a wide range of activities, from eliminating lead hazards in homes to increasing public awareness about childhood lead poisoning. Lead is a known toxin that can impair children's development and may even cause death at high levels.

"More than ever, children need safe and healthy homes," said HUD Regional Director Macie Houston. "HUD is awarding these grants to help communities protect children from many health and safety hazards and to build on our commitment to ending childhood lead poisoning."

HUD and two of its federal agency partners, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, operate the National Lead Information Clearinghouse, where parents, property owners, and other members of the public can get information about lead hazards and their prevention. The Clearinghouse has a toll free number, (800) 424-LEAD, and a web site, www.epa.gov/lead/pubs/nlic.htm, both of which provide information in English and Spanish.

The following is a list of the St. Louis programs and the HUD funding awarded:

Through HUD's seven grant programs, HUD's Office of Healthy Homes and Lead Hazard Control promotes local efforts to eliminate dangerous lead and other hazards from lower income homes; stimulates private sector investment in lead hazard control; educates the public about the dangers of lead-based paint; and supports scientific research into innovative methods to identify and eliminate health hazards in housing. Individual summaries of the St. Louis programs awarded grants can be found on HUD's website.

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.

HUD awarded a total of $131 million in grants to 61 local projects nationwide. It includes $114 million to cities, counties and states to eliminate dangerous lead paint hazards in thousands of privately owned, low-income housing units. These funds are provided through HUD's Lead-Based Paint Hazard Control and Lead Hazard Reduction Demonstration grant programs. HUD will also award $1.5 million in Lead Outreach grants for public education campaigns on what parents, building owners and others can do to protect children. Further, $2.2 million will assist research to study methods to reduce the cost and increase the effectiveness of lead hazard control strategies.

A variety of preventable health and safety hazards threaten children every year. The funding announced includes $3.5 million in demonstration grants under HUD's Healthy Homes Initiative to identify and eliminate housing conditions that contribute to children's disease and injury, such as asthma, mold exposure, and carbon monoxide contamination. HUD is also investing $2.1 million to support scientific research into new ways of identifying and eliminating health hazards in housing.

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HUD is the nation's housing agency committed to increasing homeownership, particularly among minorities; creating affordable housing opportunities for low-income Americans; and supporting the homeless, elderly, people with disabilities and people living with AIDS. The Department also promotes economic and community development and enforces the nation's fair housing laws. More information about HUD and its programs is available on the Internet at www.hud.gov and espanol.hud.gov.