I w % iSEZ j EPA Lead Program Grant Fact Sheet Hagalo usted de manera segura! Grand Rapids, Michigan EPA has selected the Healthy Homes Coalition of West Michigan in Grand Rapids, Ml for a Targeted Lead Grant. Healthy Homes Coalition of West Michigan will conduct targeted outreach to the Hispanic community using culturally- appropriate outreach strategies. HHC will: • Create strategies for this outreach, • Train mentors and "coaches" within the Hispanic communities that can share safe work practices in the home and through less formal approaches such as work parties and one-on-one help, • Demonstrate the risk of unsafe work practices through dust sampling, and • Develop culturally appropriate HUD-EPA Lead-Safe Work Practices lesson plans in Spanish. The curricula for this outreach strategy will be applicable to Hispanic communities elsewhere, especially those communities where the Hispanic population is rapidly growing due to immigration and settling of migrant workers. EPA's Targeted Lead Grants EPA's Targeted Lead Grant Program funds projects in areas with high incidences of children with elevated blood-lead levels in vulnerable populations. In 2007 the Agency awarded more than $5.2 Million in grants under this ambitious program. These targeted grants are intended to address immediate needs of the communities in which they are awarded, and will also highlight lead poison prevention strategies that can be used in similar communities across the country. 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, and the projects supported by these grant funds are an important part of this ongoing effort. According to the Centers for Disease Control in 1978 there were 13.5 million children in the US with elevated blood lead levels. By 2002, that number had dropped to 310,000. 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. 2007 Targeted Lead Grant Program Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics www.epa.gov/lead ------- |