If you have a child, and your home was built before 1970 and housing costs are hard to afford, Denver might be able to help you make sure there's no dangerous lead in your home.
The city won a $2.8 million grant from the Department of Housing and Urban Development to help 130 local low- and moderate-income homes with lead abatement, the Denver Department of Environmental Health announced Monday.
For the most part, households that join the program will come from referrals by DEH’s residential public health inspectors, Denver Health physicians and community-based partners. But here's what it takes to for a home to qualify for the program, per DEH:
- Have been built prior to 1970
- Contain deteriorated lead-based paint or high lead dust levels
- House a child under the age of six at least 20 hours per week
- House residents earning at or below 80 percent of the area’s median income
- Be located in one of the qualifying zip codes: 80204, 80205, 80207, 80211, 80216, 80219, 80220, 80223
If that sounds like someone you know, contact the department via email or 311.
Qualifying homes get a full lead-risk assessment, an abatement plan and abatement services, which can cost $8,500 per home. Plus, the grant also has funds to address "28 other healthy homes hazards," like trip and fall hazards.
Denver was the only Colorado agency to get funds this grant cycle, and one of only 48 agencies in the country to get funding. In 2010, DEH got $2.2 million under the same grant program. The agency also announced that Office of Economic Development will provide at least $275,000 in matching funds for the program.
