By
March 23, 2009

Omaha Mayor Mike Fahey and his city of were awarded an USCM-DuPont Lead Safe for Kids’ Sake grant in the amount of $60,000 last June at The United States Conference of Mayors Annual Meeting in Miami.

The city got straight to work partnering with local organizations to implement the grant and show results. Omaha contracted with the Douglas County Health Department and the Omaha Healthy Kids Alliance to provide direct services to families and their children in Omaha. Omaha also contracted with the nationally renowned Coalition to End Childhood Lead Poisoning to provide program technical assistance for capacity building and strategic development. The Coalition to End Childhood Lead Poisoning has been used by the USCM and DuPont as a technical assistance provider and judge of our lead'safety programs in the past and continues to provide excellent work on behalf of the partnership. They can be an excellent resource to mayors either working on healthy home issues or assisting cities in applying for federal funding.

The Douglas County Health Department is funding a full-time Spanish'speaking Community Health Worker based in South Omaha. The Community Health Worker provides outreach to over 500 families and children in South Omaha that are potentially affected by lead. Outreach services include distribution of dusk kits and referrals for the window replacement program. So far, the outreach has included 141 families with a total of 117 children. The health department has distrusted lead dust testing kits and made education material available through a variety of outlets including: Douglas County WIC (Women, Infants and Children), Douglas County Dental Clinics, and the Visiting Nurses Association. Community health workers are gathering data on the outcomes to determine if there are changes in behavior by the targeted populations.

The Omaha Healthy Kids Alliance, a leading local non-profit concerned with childhood public health issues, has purchased materials and supplies to produce dust kits for the Community Health Worker to distribute. Funds have been used to implement the Gold'star Program. The Gold'star Program allows the Omaha Healthy Kids Alliance to register, certify and track lead'safe homes in Omaha. This program will be implemented through a Housing and Urban Development Lead Elimination Assistance Program grant obtained by Omaha Healthy Kids Alliance and New Community Development Corporation in October 2008.

The Coalition to End Childhood Lead Poisoning funds have been used to strategic plan and build capacity in existing Lead Safe programs. In addition, the city and their partners leveraged the $60,000 in DuPont-USCM funds to obtain $2.25 million in federal grants through the use the Coalition as a grant writer and technical assistance expert. One example of this leverage: the Coalition assisted the Omaha Health Kids Alliance in applying for and receiving funding from the Housing and Urban Development Lead Elimination Assistance Program grant. This grant will provide $1.9 million to the Omaha Health Kids Alliance to provide community lead'safe outreach and develop the Gold Star Program for lead'safe housing.

The Omaha-DuPont partnership is an example of what can happen when cities partner with DuPont to create healthier, smarter and safer cities. With over $4 million in grants awarded over the past seven years, this example illustrates the power of the Lead'safe for Kids’ Sake grant program.

The 2009 grant applications were distributed to mayors attending the USCM Winter Meeting in January. In addition, each member of the USCM has also been mailed a copy of the application. The deadline to apply for the 2009 funding is May 1. If you have any questions call Alexander Cochran at 202.661.6364 or send e-mail to Alexander@bgrdc.com.