City of Cleveland, Cleveland Clinic donate $60 million to stop lead paint poisoning

CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) -Lead poisoning has been a problem Cleveland has been battling for years.

The health of children suffering because of the high levels of lead exposure in old homes around the city.

“Lead exposure even in what appears to be a very small amount has an irreversible impact on children,” said August Napoli with the United Way.

Now, with new funding, we could see a shift.

“It’s time to focus on implementation and accelerating the pace of change to truly radicate the lead paint crisis epidemic,’ said Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb.

The city announced it would be giving $17 million over the course of two years to the Lead Safe Cleveland Coalition.

Those dollars will come from the American Rescue Plan Act.

The Cleveland Clinic also backed the cause, announcing that they will be giving 50 million dollars to the coalition.

“This effort is critical because prevention is the only effective approach, it is important to emphasize that there is no cure and no way to reverse the damage of lead poisoning once it’s done,” said Cleveland Clinic President and CEO, Dr. Tom Mihaljevic.

The funds will be handed out over the next five years.

“We know we have a large rental population in the city of Cleveland, this helps us expand our opportunities in order to be able to help with homeowners as well,” said city council President Blaine Griffin.

Griffin also noted that a dashboard would be created by the coalition to keep track of how these funds are being used.

Copyright 2022 WOIO. All rights reserved.