The Alliance for Healthy Homes is mounting a concerted, broad-based campaign to persuade Congress to double funding for HUD's Healthy Homes grants from $10 million to $20 million and restore $35 million in cuts proposed in HUD's Lead Hazard Control grants in FY 2005. Through the campaign, the Alliance also seeks to sharpen the focus of these grants to advance the cost-effective integration of healthy homes principles and practices into housing maintenance, rehabilitation, operation, design, and construction. Achieving these goals will advance the objectives of advocates for children's health, environmental health, environmental justice, affordable housing, energy conservation, lead poisoning prevention, asthma reduction, and healthy homes.

Background

Indoor exposures to environmental hazards eclipse outdoor levels, and older properties in substandard condition typically pose the highest risks. Forty percent of U.S. homes contain some lead paint and an estimated 438,000 pre-school children are lead poisoned in the U.S. today. Asthma rates have doubled in the U.S. over the past 20 years, and more than 60 million people in the U.S. have asthma or allergies, costing the U.S. economy over $20 billion each year in hospitalizations, medical services, lost productivity at work or school, and more. The Environmental Protection Agency calls radon the number one cause of lung cancer in non-smokers, responsible for as many as 15,000 to 22,000 cancer deaths each year. Nearly 1 out of every 15 homes in the U.S. has elevated radon levels.

Simultaneously addressing multiple hazards posed by substandard housing offers inherent efficiencies, since many hazards have common causes and solutions, such as moisture, which causes paint to peel in addition to encouraging growth of cockroaches, mold, dust allergens, and other asthma triggers. HUD's Healthy Homes grants are unique federal funds that specifically address strategies to assess, control, and prevent the full range of housing-related health hazards.

HUD’s Lead Hazard Control grants program is, in the words of the Bush Administration, “the central element of the President’s effort to eradicate childhood lead-based paint poisoning.” This program is key to accelerating the production of lead-safe homes while building lead safety capacity. In spite of the continuing danger of lead poisoning, the Administration has proposed to cut the program by $35 million (20 percent) and eliminate a two-year-old Lead Hazard Reduction Demonstration Program in FY 2005.

Why Healthy Homes Funding Must Be Doubled

Congress first funded HUD's Healthy Homes Initiative in FY 1999 at $10 million as a set-aside within the Lead Hazard Reduction account of HUD's annual appropriations bill. Since 1999, Congress has increased funding for lead safety activities from $95 million to $164 million, including $50 million for lead hazard control grants targeted to cities at greatest risk, and $10 million to leverage private sector resources through Operation LEAP. In contrast, Healthy Homes funding has stayed constant at $10 million, a mere 0.03 percent of HUD's annual $31 billion budget.

HUD competitively awards its Healthy Homes grants based on proposals from health and housing agencies, non-profit organizations, universities, and weatherization programs. HUD typically receives proposals for six to eight times as many projects than can be funded, leaving many worthy and creative projects unfunded.

We need your help to convince Congress that the Healthy Homes Initiative is a good investment in health that benefits states and the constituents of every Congressional member. And of course we must mobilize to maintain current Lead Hazard Control funding levels. Make your voice heard—support the Healthy Homes funding campaign today!

The Healthy Homes grants program is an investment in health.

View the accomplishments of current and past Healthy Homes grantees.

Healthy Homes projects are located in 23 states.

Why Lead Hazard Control Funding Must Be Maintained

The Lead Hazard Control grants program is the country’s main vehicle to eliminate lead paint hazards in private housing. It has built an extensive infrastructure of strong local programs, an effective workforce, and great momentum in achieving lead safety in recent years. Since the program’s inception, more than 87,000 homes have been directly impacted by lead hazard assessment and remediation activities, and more than 40,000 individuals have been trained in lead safety or other skills related to controlling lead hazards. However, an estimated 25 million US housing units still contain lead hazards. This grant program is the heart of the capacity to meet our national goal to eliminate childhood lead poisoning by 2010.

Congress appropriated approximately $174 million for HUD’s Lead Hazard Control and Healthy Homes grant programs in both FY 2003 and FY 2004, including $50 million each year for competitive “demonstration” grants targeted to cities with the greatest needs. The Bush Administration’s $35 million proposed cut in this program would entirely eliminate the targeted demonstration grants program (which generates an additional $12.5 million in state and local matching funds). These cuts would be a significant retreat from a long-standing, bipartisan commitment to combat this devastating problem that disproportionately affects low-income and minority children, and would prevent cities across the country from making tens of thousands more homes lead-safe.

The Lead Hazard Control program is vital for creating and maintaining safe and affordable housing. The Children’s Defense Fund and the Alliance have issued a report describing the need to fund HUD’s Lead Hazard Control programs at increased levels.

The Healthy Homes funding campaign has already been endorsed by dozens of individuals and organizations.