More than $9 Million in grant funding was awarded to the City of Grand Rapids and Kent County recently to aid in an ongoing effort to protect families from exposure to lead paint and other hazards.
The Department of Housing and Urban Development of Michigan Field Office Director Michael Polsinelli presented a multi-million-dollar Lead Based Paint Hazard Control award to the City of Grand Rapids and a Lead Hazard Reduction Capacity Building award to Kent County, in conjunction with National Lead Poisoning Prevention Week, which took place the last week of October.
The grant will help HUD’s strategic objective to strengthen environmental justice by reducing exposure to health risks, environmental hazards, and substandard housing, especially for low-income households and communities of color.
“As a public serving agency, we have a duty to protect the people we serve, particularly our young generation, from the dangers of lead exposure,” said Great Lakes Regional Administrator Diane M. Shelley. “Our children represent the future, and we will remain committed to protecting them and their families.”
The grant from the Housing and Urban Development’s Office of Lead Hazard Control and Healthy Homes is awarded to state and local governments who pledge to work toward developing cost-effective ways to reduce lead-based paint hazards, provide public outreach and technical assistance, and who will conduct technical studies to help protect children and their families from health and safety hazards.
The check presentation took place Oct. 31 in Calder plaza where Michael Polsinelli, HUD Michigan Field Office Director, Stan Stek, Chairperson, Kent County Board of Commissioners and Rosalynn Bliss, Mayor, City of Grand Rapids took part in the check presentation ceremony.
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