As published by the Austin American-Statesman April 30, 2014. The original story (paywall) is reproduced here for portfolio purposes only. This story accompanied a data visualization I created using Tableau.
Pattrina Carslile lived in East Austin for almost 10 years before being able to breathe easy in her own home.
The house on East 10th Street was built in 1910 and passed down through the family. The name of local civil rights activist Arthur DeWitty, Carslile’s uncle, is still inscribed on the concrete patio. But the historic home was covered with lead paint until a city program recently removed the toxin.
Pattrina Carslile, pictured with her son, Rodney Limuel, Jr., had her home cleared of lead paint through Austin’s LeadSmart program.
“When I get home I (am) tired,” said Carslile, who works as a housekeeper at the Driskill Hotel. “To come home and smell some fresh air – it feels good.”
Carslile considers herself fortunate to have qualified for LeadSmart, a federally funded program that rids houses and apartments of lead toxins at no cost to the residents. But not enough people are taking advantage of the program.
The city relies on two grants from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for the program, and each comes with a quota of homes that must be helped. A $2.8 million Lead Hazard Reduction Demonstration grant, which the city received in October 2011, calls for 150 homes to be helped by this September. Only 85 have been completed.
Austin’s LeadSmart program has removed lead paint from 403 homes since the program started in 2003.
The city also has a $2.5 million Healthy Homes and Lead Hazard Control grant that requires an additional 138 homes to be helped by 2016. Just one home has been cleared of lead under this grant, and another is in the works.
“It’s a bit of a struggle right now,” said Austin LeadSmart program director Coby Ramirez. “For some reason the applications are not coming in as steady as they used to.”
Any unused money goes back to the federal government, but failing to meet the quotas could hurt Austin’s chances of getting future lead-remediation grants. The grant application process is competitive, and one of the main criteria HUD considers is a program’s track record in meeting previous quotas, HUD spokeswoman Shantae Goodloe said.
On paper, the homes are out there. The U.S. census estimates roughly 117,000 homes in Austin were built before 1979, the year after lead was banned from household paints. The LeadSmart program is available to residents who make less than 80 percent of the city’s median income — $58,550 for a family of four — and who have a child age 6 or under who lives in the home or visits at least six hours a week.
Since Austin began its LeadSmart program in 2003, 403 homes have tested positive for lead and had the hazardous metal removed. More than a third of them have been in the 78702 ZIP code of East Austin, which has a higher number of older homes and lower-income families who meet the program qualifications, Ramirez said.
Austin has come up short in meeting its quota of homes for the LeadSmart program only once.
In its first grant cycle from 2003 to 2006, LeadSmart got a $1.8 million grant to repair 115 homes. It fixed up 117 homes with 22 more on the waiting list, who were contacted for the following 2007-2010 grant cycle. Austin was awarded $2.8 million for that second cycle to remediate 286 homes, but, after further discussion, HUD agreed to lower the quota to 186 homes plus an additional 14 units with a year extension. Austin exceeded that benchmark by serving 205 households.
Ramirez said LeadSmart is trying to drum up more interest in the program by reaching out to the public through 311 phone referrals, marketing fliers, TV spots, community events and word of mouth, but the applications are just barely trickling in.
City of Austin spokeswoman Jill Goodman said there are a lot of factors contributing to the recent lack of participants. Some houses meet the age and household income qualifications but don’t test positive for lead. A few applicants don’t meet the grant requirements. Some who do are hesitant to disclose personal information or request permission for repairs from their landlords. And some people might not realize the lead danger that older homes could pose.
Austin’s changing demographics could also be a factor, Goodman said.
“With so much construction, it is becoming harder to find older homes that have the children and the income levels that have not been either razed and rebuilt, or completely remodeled, thus eliminating components that still have lead paint on them,” she said.
Carslile’s home is spacious with high ceilings, large glass windows and a sparse selection of furniture, but for years it was in complete disrepair. Carslile said it felt stuffy and smelled like mold and wet wood. None of the house’s electrical outlets worked, except for one in the bathroom. Only two lights in the whole house would turn on. The roof sagged, and the frame was deteriorating.
A neighbor referred Carslile last fall to the city’s home repair programs, including LeadSmart.
Lead dust can enter the body when someone swallows or breathes it, and significant exposure can cause neurological problems in children as well as kidney hypertension, anemia and reproductive problems for adults, said Dr. Philip Huang, Austin’s medical director. While some toys, imported cosmetics and ceramic dishes might contain lead, HUD says the primary cause of exposure is lead-based paint.
And Carslile’s home was covered with it. Most of her ceilings and walls hadn’t been painted since the last round of room additions in the 1920s. When it rained, water would leak through the lead paint and drip onto the floor, creating a hazardous environment for Carslile’s 15-year-old son, Rodney, and her four visiting grandchildren.
The LeadSmart program tested Carslile’s house and her 4-year old grandson Malique, who tested negative for lead poisoning.
Then came the repairs, done with the blessing of the city’s historical home review process because the house was built before the 1950s. The program paid for Carslile’s stay in a nearby hotel for two weeks while crews reshingled the roof and braced the ceilings. Contracted workers with the city scraped and sanded the toxic lead paint off of the walls, door frames, window frames and ceilings. The walls were retextured and repainted a subtle beige.
Ramirez said the whole process from testing to the end of renovation typically takes two to three months. While other city programs are providing other repairs to Carslile’s home, she said the lead removal made a big difference.
“I recommend anybody, if you have an old house, please have it tested out (for lead paint) and have it changed,” Carslile said. “It’s very important for your kids’ health.”
By the numbers
117,000 — Estimated number of homes in Austin built before 1979, after lead paint was banned
403 — Homes stripped of lead contamination since Austin began its LeadSmart program in 2003
47 — Children in Travis County who had elevated blood lead levels in 2013
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, LeadSmart, Texas Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program
About LeadSmart
Austin’s LeadSmart program provides up to $30,000 to test for and remove lead from a home or apartment. To qualify, the home must’ve been built before 1978, and the household must make no more than 80 percent of the city’s median income and have a child age six or under who lives in the home or visits at least six hours a week.
For information visit austintexas.gov/department/lead-smart or call the city’s Neighborhood Housing and Community Development Office at 512-974-3100.