EPA Lead Program Grant Fact Sheet The Medical Fo EPA has selected The Medical Foundation in Dorchester, Massachusetts for a National Community-Based Lead Outreach and Training Grant. The Medical Foundation will develop community-based collaborative approaches to address the problems of lead poisoning among children in immigrant and refugee communities in Springfield and Brockton, Massachusetts. The project will: • Partner with key community-based stakeholders • Provide outreach, education and training, • Promote the development, implementation and ownership of lead prevention action plans, • Promote infrastructure development, such as reviewing, revising, and developing ordinances • Incorporate mechanisms to make these efforts sustainable beyond the life of the project. EPA's National Community- Based Lead Grant Program EPA grants are helping communities with older housing reduce childhood lead poisoning. The funds enable communities to educate those at risk, provide lead-awareness training and develop local ordinances aimed at lead abatement. The National Community-Based Lead Outreach and Training Grants are aimed at promoting efforts to prevent or reduce childhood lead poisoning. In 2007 The Agency awarded more than $3.1 million in grant dollars to fund this ambitious program. Grant recipients range from city health departments to universities and colleges, community organizations, religious groups, and other non-profit organizations. EPA's lead program is playing a major role in meeting the Federal goal of eliminating childhood lead poisoning as a major public health concern by 2010. Projects supported by these grant funds are an important part of this ongoing effort - and we are seeing their effects. By 2002, the number of U.S. children with elevated blood-lead levels dropped to 310,000 from 13.5 million in 1978, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. For more information about EPA's Lead Program, visit www.epa.gov/lead or call the National Lead Information Center at 1-800- 424-LEAD. This project will complement existing and evolving statewide efforts to promote healthy homes in Massachusetts, including programs focused on lead and other home-based public health problems, such as asthma, pest control, and violence prevention. 2007 National Community-Based Lead Grant Program Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics www.epa.gov/lead ------- |