Lead-Safe Housing Program
About Lead-Safe Housing Program
The City of Alexandria’s Lead-Safe Housing Program offers grants of up to $14,000 to remediate lead-based paint hazards from homes and rental units built before 1978 in the City of Alexandria and occupied by children and pregnant women, and to vacant units that will be affirmatively marketed as family-friendly, lead-safe rentals.
Click here to download a flyer (PDF).
The Lead-Safe Housing Program is a result of grant funds awarded to the City of Alexandria Community Development Department of $2,990,976.00 from the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Office of Lead Hazard Control and Healthy Homes (OLHCHH). The current Lead-Safe Housing Program grant period is January 2021 through June 2024.
HUD’s funding requires the City of Alexandria to target and serve approximately 125 low to moderate income families with children under six years of age— residing or who spend at least 6 hours a week in the home. Occupants can be owner-occupied or rental housing built prior to 1978 to address unsafe lead paint conditions that pose a potential health hazard to young children. The program is designed to assist owners of single and multi-family dwellings and investor owners of properties 1-4 units with two or more bedrooms.
Goals and Objectives
- Eliminate and/or control all identified lead hazards in 125 housing units for low to moderate income families with children under six years of age.
- Conduct recruitment and training of minority and low-income lead contractors and workers.
- Conduct outreach programs focusing on coordination and implementation of community outreach and general public education relating to lead hazards.
- Provide opportunities to participants in the training programs.
- Also implement programs that will effectively increase the number of children screened for lead poisoning by working closely with the Health Department and other working partners.
- Develop a fair housing initiative by conducting workshops and training seminars to housing providers—both public and private, civic and community-based organizations, as well as City and Parish officials.
- Finally, provide lead training and awareness in the City of Alexandria and on a regional basis.
Dangers of Lead-Based Paint
If your home was built before 1978, it could contain lead-based paint. The older your home is, the greater the chances of having lead-based paint or high levels of lead dust.
Lead is a toxic metal and lead poisoning is caused by the presence of lead in the body. Lead paint is the primary source of lead poisoning.
Lead paint that is in poor condition and peeling, crackled, chipping, chalking or applied to friction and impact surfaces (such as windows and doors) creates lead dust. Lead dust is hard to see; it can be found on window sills, window troughs, and floors. Lead paint and dust cause serious health issues for small children and pregnant women.
There is no known safe level of lead to have in the body but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has identified five micrograms per deciliter (5mcg/dl) as the level of concern.
Exposure to lead can cause learning and behavioral problems, problems with speech, language and hearing, damage to organs, damage to the central nervous system, and at very high levels seizures, coma, and even death. Adult lead poisoning can also cause other health and reproductive problems.
There is no cure for lead poisoning but medical treatment can lower the level of lead in the blood. The best way to address childhood lead poisoning is to prevent children from being exposed to lead hazards.