Demonstration grants will promote the coordination between reducing lead and energy costs
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) today awarded $5 million in demonstration grants to five local government and non-profit organizations to help households with young children or seniors promote energy efficiency and healthy housing. The funding announced today promotes the coordinated delivery of services by local HUD-funded Lead Hazard Reduction and Weatherization Assistance Programs funded by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). This model will provide additional benefits to low-income households in the form of lower energy costs and a reduction in residential health and safety hazards. Read a complete project-by-project summary of the programs awarded grants today.
“These grants will allow local programs to explore different strategies to increase the supply of safe and energy efficient housing for low-income households,” said HUD Secretary Marcia Fudge. “These services are expected to both improve resident health and reduce emissions of greenhouse gases.”
“Both of the programs supported through these grants target services to similar populations and housing. Coordinating services enhances the benefits to households and can reduce program costs by achieving greater efficiencies compared to the usual independent provision of program services,” said Matt Ammon, Director of the Office of Lead Hazard Control and Healthy Homes. “We know that substandard housing contributes to injury and illness, which is entirely preventable.”
HUD’s Office of Lead Hazard Control and Healthy Homes promotes state and local efforts to eliminate dangerous lead-paint and other housing-related health and safety hazards from lower income homes, stimulate private sector investment in lead hazard control, support cutting-edge research on methods for assessing and controlling housing-related health and safety hazards, and educate the public about the dangers of hazards in the home.