KALAMAZOO (WKZO AM/FM) — For the first time in years, the City of Kalamazoo is receiving federal funding to address the hazards of lead-based paint in homes.
The city has received a nearly $2-million dollar grant from Housing of Urban Development.
The funds will be spent removing lead-based paint from 72 homes where children that are six and under are living.
They have 3-1/2 years to complete the work.
Community Investment Manager Dorla Bonner says the rate of elevated blood levels among children under the age of six in the city’s older neighborhoods is nearly five times higher when compared with children in the rest of the county.
(copy written by John McNeill)