KALAMAZOO, Mich. — Kalamazoo city commissioners approved a grant for more than $3 million that aims to reduce lead issues in homes.
The White Family, who has been struggling to find housing after testing positive for lead poisoning, says they wish they would have received this kind of help.
“We just went in, took them to the doctor and got regular checkups. And they was like, 'your kids' lead levels are very high. You guys should get your house checked for lead,'” Troy White explained.
It was a frustrating time for the White family, who was renting a home in Kalamazoo. Out of his six children, his daughter Hope had the highest levels of lead in her blood.
"Hers was at 24.5. And the lead level, the lowest, is supposed to be at five and under,” White told FOX 17.
White says they got a lead inspection done— with lead found everywhere in the home.
“That’s a good thing that Kalamazoo is doing that, but if it could have happened with us, it would have helped,” White said about the money going toward decreasing lead in Kalamazoo homes, adding that there should be more lead inspections before families can move into a home.
In 2019, the city accepted a $2 million grant to address lead issues. The program manager for the lead program, Rachel Luscomb, said that grant was able to help 28 homes— 18 more are still in the process of getting lead clearance.
The recently-accepted grant is expected to help 126 homes.
“The goals are to create healthy homes for children under the age of six, pregnant women, homes that were built before 1978 within the city of Kalamazoo limits, so children don't have a lifelong problem dealing with a lead hazard poisoning,” she said. “The neighborhoods that we are targeting are north side, Edison, east side, Stewart, West Douglas and Vine.”
Similar to what the White family is experiencing, Luscomb says lead can stay in our bodies for years and create cognitive and learning disabilities in children.
“The whole goal of this program is to help prevent any future lead poisoning happening. We encourage everybody to go to the county to get lead testing. It's free blood lead testing and if you do test high for lead levels, then you are directed automatically to the lead program to start the process,” she said.
If you think you have lead issues, you can apply for the program on the Kalamazoo Neighborhood Housing website.
