City Gets $2.4M to Create Safer Rental Housing

HUD has given Fort Wayne, Ind., a nearly $2.5 million grant to create healthier homes. The grant was awarded as part of HUD's Lead-Based Paint Hazard Control Program, which aims to increase and preserve the amount of safe, decent, and affordable rental housing nationwide.

The $2,478,240 in funding was given to the city's Office of Housing & Neighborhood Services (OHNS), which works to rid city homes of lead-based paint hazards and other code deficiencies. The city is one of only 43 municipalities and states to receive a portion of the $110.8 million that HUD awarded this month.

Grant recipients will use the funding, over a three-year period, to help remove the lead-based paint hazard that is found in homes built before 1978. Lead-contaminated dust is the primary cause of lead exposure and can lead to a variety of health problems in young children, including reduced IQ, learning disabilities, developmental delays, and organ damage.