Jordan, Jessie Walls 5-year-old granddaughter, visited her Jackson home often to play. The flaky paint chips around the house and walls were like moths to an open flame. The taste of lead paint peeling is delicious, which makes it more difficult for young children to stop their hand-to-mouth habit and increases the risk of lead paint exposure. Inspectors discovered lead paint in and around the Lake Hico-area grandmother’s home. The house was built in 1963, and she has lived there for over 25 years. Over the years, door frames became worn down and exposed layers and layers upon layers of paint. The friction from frequent use caused the paint to flake and peel off. Walls was one of many Jackson residents to be awarded a portion from a federal grant, the only state-funded active lead remediation program. This grant will help to rid homes of harmful lead toxins. Her home was cleaned out of lead paint by workers. She can now live comfortably and not worry about Jordan being exposed. Walls stated that she fears for Jordan because she loves to be outside and that the paint is peeling away. Walls said that she would let her go to the ceiling and peel off the paint. It was great that I got the ceiling and paint done… I’m so grateful that they did that.” Ben Carson, Housing and Urban Development Secretary and former Governor of Nevada. Phil Bryant was in Walls’ yard to give the $1.8 million HUD grant. Carson discussed the dangers of lead poisoning he witnessed firsthand as a Johns Hopkins neurosurgeon, and the benefits federal dollars receive from lead reduction. Carson stated that this is a problem we have the potential to solve in the country and that we’ve already made great progress. “The value of every federal dollar we receive is significant in terms health savings, school attendance, and productivity when you enter the workforce. The average return on investment is $17 per $1. Hinds County has two-thirds of its homes built before 1978, when lead paint was banned. Jackson is home to about 70% of the homes that are likely to have leaded paint. This is significantly higher than the state average, where only half of the homes meet the same criteria. Walls was awarded a federal grant to help address the risks for low-income families that would otherwise have difficulty affording lead remediation. The city of Jackson received a federal grant from HUD in 2016 to remove lead paint from homes in the city. This grant is for older homes that have lead paint and those on fixed incomes who often watch or live with young children. Walls, a Jackson Public Schools retired food service manager, was the perfect candidate. She still raves about this program. The $1.35million in HUD funds were steered by the Jackson city planning office and assisted by the local branch of the Baltimore-based Green and Healthy Homes Initiative. It was used for lead remediation and other hazard repairs to 86 homes. The state and Jackson doubled their HUD funding and each were granted separate grants for lead paint remediation. In 2018, the state health department received $1.8million to fix 75 homes throughout the state. Jackson was awarded $1.8million in additional funds to repair 78 homes. Jackson is the only state in Mississippi that has made significant progress in fighting lead. They still have $2 million to fix over 100 homes. Both Yazoo City, Greenwood and Greenwood were slated to be enrolled in the state’s 2018 grant. The city declined state-run HUD funds due to “too many undetermined variables and unanswered queries” as well as “honestly, not enough affirmative data to clearly instruct city’s team to comply.” Yazoo City is the last city that was slated to be awarded the funds. However, due to COVID-19 delays the grant has not yet been able to begin repairing homes. Although Jackson is the only successful program for lead paint remediation in the state, enrollment has been difficult. Although lead paint tests were performed in the city’s early days and found that half of west Jackson homes had lead paint, enrollment has not caught up to pre-COVID. Homes that were previously enrolled are now at a standstill due to the pandemic. 33 homes have had their lead paint removed, while 18 others are still in process. This leaves funds to fund 113 additional homes. It can be difficult to remove lead paint. A lead inspector is trained to scan walls and doors with an X-ray gun. This will detect lead hidden beneath walls and door jambs. The lead in Walls’ house was found only under the carport and outside the trim, which made the remediation much easier than others. During the week-long construction of the trim, leaded beams, frames and beams, she didn’t need to leave her home. Some homes may require more extensive work such as removing leaded paint from the interior. The HUD grant covers all remediation work. This is to prevent lead dust from settling elsewhere in the home, yard, or neighborhood. Lead interventions require a specialized contractor licence. Federal grantors often require higher standards. There are only six lead-safe contractors within the metro. Walls has found the program to be a huge success. Walls has been homebound since March because of fears about contracting COVID-19. However, her home is lead paint-safe. Her grandchildren will be able to play in her yard and house when they return. You never know when you might have lead around your home. Walls stated that she was just grateful that lead paint was found during the testing and that they were able to remove it from the house. She hopes that more homeowners will benefit from this free program. You can find out more about Jackson’s lead remediation grant by clicking here. Or, call 662-746-3211 for more information. You can read the first investigation of this lead series here. The Doris O’Donnell Innovations in Investigative Journalism Fellowship at Point Park University’s Center for Media Innovation supported this project. Editor’s note: A previous version of this story used terms such as “lead free” or “lead abatement”. Point Park University’s Center for Media Innovation supported the project.