Worcester has a fresh $5.5 million from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to pay for lead paint abatement in older homes, with the city aiming to clear hazards from 160 housing units (via City of Worcester).
The award, announced this week, splits into $5 million for lead abatement and $500,000 for Healthy Homes work, which can tackle other health and safety problems in a house. It comes through HUD's Lead Hazard Reduction program, and the city will focus the money on homes where low- and very low-income families with children live. This Week in Worcester reported that the funding covers privately owned rentals as well as owner-occupied homes.
The money runs through the Worcester Lead Abatement Program, a city-run grant program that helps property owners cover the cost of deleading. According to the program page, both owner-occupied and investor-owned properties can qualify, though income and rental restrictions may apply. The city hasn't published income limits or per-unit dollar amounts in the announcement, and there are separate applications for homeowners, investors and tenants.
"If you are the owner of an older property, please reach out to find out if you are eligible," City Manager Eric D. Batista said in the release.
The need is easy to see in the numbers. The city counts 63,235 housing units built before 1978, the year lead paint was banned for residential use, which is about 70% of its housing stock. More than 38,000 of those units date to before 1940. Worcester is also home to 11,431 children under 6, and its initial lead screening rate of 64% trails the state average of 73%, according to the city.
James Brooks, the city's director of Housing Development and Healthy Homes, said the funding "will lead to a sustainable, community wide effort to combat the effects of childhood lead poisoning." The city is working with six partners on outreach and referrals: UMass Memorial Children's Medical Center, Central Massachusetts Housing Alliance, Worcester Housing Authority, Worcester Community Action Council, the Realtor Association of Central Massachusetts and Worcester Head Start.
This isn't Worcester's first round. The city says it has pulled in more than $24.7 million in lead abatement and Healthy Homes grants since 2007, including a $4.1 million HUD award in 2023 aimed at 165 units. Worcester is one of a number of places getting money in this year's HUD round; three New York communities, for example, split $14.69 million earlier this month.
Massachusetts law adds pressure on owners. Any home where a child under 6 lives has to have its lead paint hazards abated, which is why programs like this one tend to stay busy.
Why it matters for Contractors
A grant like this turns into real deleading jobs over the next few years, but in Massachusetts that work goes to licensed deleading contractors. The state requires a licensed deleader-supervisor on site whenever deleading is underway, and projects have to be reported through the state Department of Labor Standards' licensing system (state deleading rules).
If your shop already holds a deleading license, call the city's Housing and Neighborhood Development office (508-799-1400) and ask how contractors get work through the program. If you're a remodeler or painter without one, this is a reason to look at the state's lead-safe renovation and deleading licenses. Even if you never bid a grant job, older Worcester homes are full of pre-1978 paint, and owners getting abatement help may also be lining up other repairs.