Federal Funds To Aid Hartford In Cleaning Up Lead Paint In Homes

Press release from the City of Hartford:

HARTFORD, CT — City residents will soon be the beneficiaries of federal funding to protect local children from the hazards of lead-based paint.

Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin and U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal announced Oct. 13 the city has been awarded a $4,055,826 grant over four years from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to protect children and families from lead-based paint and other home health hazards.

The grant, funded through the Lead Hazard Reduction Grant Program, will help identify and clean up lead sources in the homes of vulnerable families.

With this funding, the city will be able to provide direct lead remediation and other hazard remediation to 165 low-income homes in Hartford.

The city will be working with other medical and social service providers who will assist with the remediation process.

This grant follows a $3.4 million HUD grant the city previously received and will greatly expand the scope of the city’s lead remediation efforts, which have helped cut lead poisoning in Hartford children by 58 percent between 2016 and 2020.

The city has completed lead remediation efforts in approximately 1,400 homes since 2001, including in 95 units that had been improved through the Housing Preservation Loan Fund.

"Lead poisoning caused by lead paint in older homes can have an enormous impact on the development of children, setting back young people for a lifetime," said Bronin.

"Our health and human services team, alongside our developmental services team, has done incredible work removing these toxic substances from hundreds of homes throughout the years, and this grant will allow us to expand that important work. I am deeply grateful to HUD, along with our entire federal delegation, for recognizing the necessity of this grant, which will save lives and protect our young people."

“We have seen the danger and know the risks lead poisoning poses to communities across Connecticut, and in particular, to our state’s children,” said Blumenthal. “I am so pleased the City of Hartford is tackling this critical health hazard head on and providing direct remediation to 165 families in the city. This critical federal grant will help ensure that Hartford families are growing, playing, and learning in safe, lead-free homes.”

HUD awarded more than $125 million to 26 state and local government agencies across the country.

The grant included more than $13 million from HUD’s Healthy Homes Supplemental funding, which helps communities address other health and safety hazards in homes.

The City of Hartford received $350,000 in Healthy Homes Supplemental funding.

This press release was produced by the City of Hartford. The views expressed here are the author’s own.