HUD AWARDS OVER $38 MILLION TO PROTECT FAMILIES FROM HOME HEALTH AND SAFETY HAZARDS
Funding to make low-income families’ homes safer and healthier and create job opportunities for health housing practitioners
WASHINGTON – Today, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) awarded over $38 million to city, county, and Native American tribal governments, and non-profit organizations in 17 states to protect children and families from home health hazards. HUD is providing these 23 grants through its Healthy Homes Production Grant Program to identify and mitigate health and safety hazards in the homes of families of low-income.
These investments will protect families and children by eliminating significant home health and safety hazards in over 2,600 homes of low-income families. In addition, the investments will provide resources to build capacity for healthy homes interventions to support a workforce including housing renovation contractors, subsidies for licensing or certification fees to low-income persons seeking credentials as healthy housing practitioners, lead sampling technicians or certified renovators; and conducting targeted outreach, affirmative marketing, and education that helps promote participation in the program.
“Today, we are once again investing in the health and lives of children and families with low incomes,” said HUD Secretary Marcia L. Fudge. “The governments and nonprofits to which we are awarding these grants have shown that they understand how to address multiple housing-related health and safety hazards and are motivated to act.
This investment builds on HUD’s commitment to building safer, more resilient, and inclusive communities for all, a central pillar includes protecting American families from potential hazards in their own home, such as from lead-based paint and lead pipes. This work is part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s whole-of-government approach to ensure that all Americans can drink clean water, breathe clean air, and live in healthy homes. In January, HUD announced $568 million available through two Notices of Funding Opportunity (NOFOs), bringing HUD’s total of funds made available to protect children, families, and individuals from exposure to lead and other housing-related hazards to more than $2.7 billion since 1993. More information on how HUD is advancing the Biden-Harris Lead Pipe and Paint Action Plan can be found here.
Matthew Ammon, Director of HUD's Office of Lead Hazard Control and Healthy Homes, added, “By providing these grants, HUD makes it clear that providing healthy and safe homes for the community is a priority. HUD is committed to protecting families, especially children and other vulnerable populations from these hazards and providing healthy and sustainable housing.”
Read a complete project-by-project summary of the programs awarded grants today.
The following is a state-by-state breakdown of the funding announced today:
State Organization Name HHP Amount
AK Copper River Basin Regional Housing Authority $2,000,000.00
AR EJ Community Development Corporation $1,000,000.00
AZ White Mountain Apache Housing Authority $2,000,000.00
CA Rebuilding Together Silicon Valley $1,200,000.00
GA Gwinnett Housing Corporation $1,300,000.00
GA JC Vision and Associates Inc $1,361,821.00
LA Rebuilding Together New Orleans, Inc. $1,721,169.45
MA City of Brockton $2,000,000.00
MD Green & Healthy Homes Initiative, Inc. $2,000,000.00
MS City of Greenwood $1,996,898.00
NC City of Wilmington $1,500,000.00
NH City of Manchester $1,931,945.00
NJ City of Newark $2,000,000.00
NJ Greater Bergen Community Action, Inc. $1,859,577.21
NY Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe $2,000,000.00
OR City of Portland $2,000,000.00
OR Habitat for Humanity of Oregon $2,000,000.00
PA County of Montgomery $1,070,226.00
PA Energy Coordinating Agency of Philadelphia $1,999,231.55
PA City of Allentown $2,000,000.00
PA City of Reading $1,296,998.00
TX City of Harlingen $1,000,007.00
UT Salt Lake Valley Habitat for Humanity $1,510,543.00
TOTAL $38,748,416.21