The Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority (IHCDA) was recently awarded two grants from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). IHCDA applied for and received funding for the Lead Hazard Reduction Demonstration, and along with that grant they also received supplemental funding for a Healthy Homes program. Both grant programs will being rolling out in 2018.
The IndyEast Promise Zone provided certification for this grant opportunity because of its
potential to help residents in the Zone. According to a representative from IHCDA, 46 homes in the Promise Zone boundaries will receive risk assessments/inspections. Forty units will receive lead hazard control rehabilitation, and fourteen of those forty homes will be eligible for Healthy Homes funding.
The units inspected and rehabbed may be either rental or owner occupied, but the residents must be under 80% area median income (AMI). All units must have a child under the age of six, or a pregnant woman, residing there. Finally, the unit must have been built prior to 1978. Near East Area Renewal (NEAR) will be the sub-recipient overseeing the work in the Promise Zone.
Samantha Spergel, Director of Real Estate Production for IHCDA, emphasized the partnerships and health benefits involved in this program:
“The program, supported by the vital partnership between NEAR and IHCDA, will offer lead 
testing and hazard control services to ensure households with children under the age of six residing within the IndyEast Promise Zone are protected from lead-based paint. IHCDA is pleased to support this effort to control lead paint and work with NEAR on providing this service to neighbors.”
The Lead Hazard Reduction grant fits well with the IndyEast Promise Zone goals under the Live IndyEast initiative. Sub-goal 1 states:
Decrease transiency rate and resident turnover by addressing barriers to decent, safe, and affordable housing of existing renters and homeowners. Deferred maintenance, vacant and blighted properties, and problem rentals undermine community vitality and stability.
By mitigating the lead contamination in Promise Zone homes, our residents will be safer and healthier, while making our neighborhoods more livable and sustainable moving forward. We look forward to working with NEAR and IHCDA to understand and communicate the results of this important work in the Promise Zone.