SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WCIA) — The City of Springfield announced it just received a $2 million award from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) through its Healthy Homes Production Grant Program.

Officials stated the Healthy Homes program is aimed to identify health and safety hazards in low-income families’ homes, protecting children and families with incomes at or below eighty percent of the area median income level. The focus is to remediate significant lead and health hazards.

“The success of our community not only relies on economic development, but on our ability to provide safe and healthy homes for our families,” said Mayor Jim Langfelder. “This work, led by our Office of Planning & Economic Development, is critical in our continued efforts to improve the lives of our residents, neighborhoods and workforce.”

According to officials, the Healthy Homes Production Grant Program takes a comprehensive approach to address multiple childhood diseases and injuries in the home by focusing on housing-related hazards. The program builds upon HUD’s successful Lead Hazard Control programs to expand the department’s efforts to address a variety of high-priority housing-based health and safety hazards, such as mold and moisture, poor indoor air quality, pests, carbon monoxide, injury and safety hazards in addition to lead-based paint.

“Springfield has more than 3,500 rental units that were constructed prior to 1940, making the city one of the largest areas in downstate in need of lead and healthy homes remediation activities,” said Krista Kolis, Operations Coordinator for the City’s Office of Planning & Economic Development. “These funds will be used to improve the living environments of 135 prioritized low to moderate-income housing units, single-family, owner-occupied and rental units (1-4 units) throughout Springfield over a 42-month period.”

This is the second grant awarded from HUD to the City of Springfield in six months to address Lead and health hazards in homes. This past August, the City was awarded $3.4 million to address lead hazards and Healthy Home hazards in 169 housing units, to provide safer homes for low- to moderate-income families with children.

The City is working on program guidelines and implementation strategies for both programs. The goal is to make the applications available for families who are interested and eligible for both lead and Healthy Homes and the Healthy Homes Production grant programs by March.

For more information regarding this award including other communities, visit HUD’s website.

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Originally Appeared Here