$12.4 million granted for Valley cities’ aging housing

HUD money will go toward lead paint, home hazards

CENTRAL FALLS — The aging housing stock in Central Falls, Pawtucket and Woonsocket received a nearly $13 million infusion of cash, as cities and organizations across the state were awarded millions in grant funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development on Monday.

Officials from HUD on Monday awarded more than $12.4 million in grant funding to protect Rhode Island families from lead-based paint and home health hazards, part of an overall $314 million awarded nationally to 77 state and local government agencies.

Rhode Island Housing was awarded $7.84 million in lead based paint hazard reduction grant program funding and $599,800 in healthy homes supplemental funding. Using these grant dollars, Rhode Island Housing will address lead hazards in 340 housing units, providing safer homes for low-income families, and will also perform assessments in 118 units while working with other medical and social service providers.

Rhode Island law requires owners of properties built

before 1978 to disclose information about known and potential lead exposure hazards before the sale or rental of a residential property. That said, the most common lead exposure in Rhode Island still comes from lead-based paint and lead dust found in homes built before 1978, according to the Rhode Island Department of Health.

U.S. Sen. Jack Reed, however, noted during a press conference at the Blackstone Valley Community Health Center that much of the housing stock in Pawtucket and Central Falls predates 1970. And in some instances, even 1870 and 1770.

“Lead is a known toxin that disrupts learning and cognitive development. It is terrible...” Reed said. “We know these old buildings contain lead.”

“I don’t have to debate this with anyone: every child deserves a healthy home and

a healthy start in life. These federal funds will help us do that,” the Senator said. “Lead poisoning is an absolutely preventable tragedy … This is the right thing to do, this is the smart thing to do, let’s get it done.”

Rhode Island Housing was one of only seven recipients across the country to be awarded funding to help “high-impact neighborhoods,” where they will conduct lead hazard control and healthy homes work intensively in a targeted neighborhood impacted by poor housing conditions. In this instance, Rhode Island Housing’s “high impact neighborhoods” are in Pawtucket and Central Falls.

Reed said that the effects of lead-based hazards are disproportionately burdened by low-income families who may not have the resources or time to remediate the issue. According to Reed, at least four million homes in the United States have high levels of lead and children exposed to lead are seven times more likely to

drop out of school.

“Not only is this the right thing to do from a public health standpoint, it’s the smart thing to do from an economic standpoint,” Reed said.

HUD New England Regional Administrator David Tille said that 80 percent of Rhode Island’s homes were built before 1978, which means that the work done thanks to these grant dollars will be “tremendously impactful.”

“I’m excited to protect Rhode Island children and families from home heath hazards … Our children deserve to live in homes safe and free of lead hazards,” Tille said.

Calling the matter a “serious issue” in his home city, Central Falls Mayor James A. Diossa said the grant announcement brought with it “great relief” to the community.

While Rhode Island is experiencing declining lead rates, Central Falls’ rates remain “relatively high” due to ever-aging housing stock, the mayor said. A particularly troubling statistic, he noted, was that 11 percent of students entering kindergarten in Central Falls have tested positive for “dangerous levels” of lead in their blood, a figure that is nearly double that of the rest of the state.

This, he said, is a “public health crisis.”

Pawtucket Mayor Donald R. Grebien, meanwhile, said lead contamination is common in Pawtucket due to the ages of some of the properties in the city, but work will continue to be done to abate the issue.

“We must make sure we continue to provide healthy communities,” Grebien said.

Of particular note, Grebien said the city has required any contractor to have a lead license, and between December 2014 and August of this year, 423 units in Pawtucket have received lead certifications through code enforcement.

Rhode Island Housing Executive Director Carol Ventura said the one word that brought everyone together in Central Falls on Monday afternoon was “preventable.”

“Lead poisoning is entirely preventable, but without action, ‘preventable’ becomes ‘inevitable,’” she said.

“We need a broad, coordinated approach to protect children from lead hazards in their home … We’re excited to work together to help protect families while also preventing the next generation of childhood lead poisoning,” Ventura said.

Additionally on Monday, the City of Woonsocket was awarded $4 million in lead based paint hazard reduction grant program funding. The northernmost city in the state will use this funding to address lead hazards in 200 housing units, providing safer homes for low-income families with children while also working with other medical and social service providers.

Jonathan Bissonnette on Twitter @J_Bissonnette