NYC Lead Outreach Campaign

The New York City Lead Outreach Campaign was a multi-level collaborative that sought to increase public knowledge in New York City on childhood lead poisoning, its prevention, and the remedy of existing threats. Through the use of media, workshops, and dissemination of information that is multilingual and culturally competent, WE ACT’s lead outreach campaign aimed to reduce risk in the built environment and heighten awareness of new city regulations and procedures for addressing lead hazards and children’s environmental health in eight NYC communities with high levels of childhood lead poisoning.

The work of ending childhood lead poisoning cannot be accomplished by any one organization. WE ACT partnered with 12 community-based organizations and 2 government agencies – each selected for their resources, reach and institutional commitment – to implement the Lead Outreach Campaign. Since January 2007, the campaign reached nearly 20,000 individuals in the target communities where childhood lead poison prevention is most crucial through distribution of campaign materials, targeted media and ongoing outreach at health fairs, schools, community organizations and tenant/landlord groups.

What did the NYC Lead Outreach Campaign Do?

The NYC Lead Outreach Campaign (“The Campaign”) was a two-year citywide project designed to:

  • increase public knowledge about childhood lead poisoning.
  • inform residents about ways to prevent exposure to lead.
  • help correct housing and health problem linked to lead.

Why Should I be Concerned about Lead?

  • Lead is a toxic substance that is harmful to the body.
  • Lead is especially harmful to children younger than age six.

Sources of lead poisoning include:

  • water from old pipes
  • peeling and chipping paint in housing built before 1960
  • children’s toys
  • turf fields
  • some brightly colored paint and food products
  • exposures in the workplace
  • jewelry
  • personal care products, and
  • soil

Health effects linked to lead exposure include:

  • delayed development of the brain;
  • learning difficulties;
  • behavioral problems; and
  • long-term exposure to lead can possibly result in permanent damage to the body or even death.

What Were the Goals of the Campaign?

  • Raise awareness of the health effects of childhood lead poisoning
  • Provide tenants and owners with information on how to prevent and address lead hazards, including legal rights and responsibilities
  • Provide homeowners, landlords, and tenants with information about resources available to them

Who was the campaign reaching out to?

  • The Bronx (Crotona-Tremont, Highbridge-Morrisania)
  • Brooklyn (East Flatbush-Flatbush, Bedford Stuyvesant-Crown Heights, East New York)
  • Manhattan (Washington Heights-Inwood, East Harlem, Central Harlem-Morningside Heights)

While the campaign has ended, you can still information in your community. Please contact:

New York City

NYC Department of Health & Mental Hygiene Lead Poisoning Prevention Program

(212) BAN-LEAD (212) 226-5323

NYC Department of Housing Preservation & Development (HPD)
(212) 863-8830

Community Healthcare Network
(866) CHN-8259

The Bronx

Citizens Advice Bureau
(718) 293-0727

Bronx Health Link
(718) 590-2648

Metroplus Healthplan
(212) 908-8600

Montefiore Lead Safe House
(718) 547-2789

Brooklyn

Bedford-Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation
(212) 665-2600

Caribbean Women’s Health Association
(718) 940-8386

Hope Gardens Multi-Service Center
(718) 455-1100

Manhattan

Association of Senegalese in America (Association des Senegalais d’Amerique)
(212) 932-0900

Goddard Riverside Community Center Single Stop
(212) 694-7240

Little Sisters of the Assumption
(212) 987-4422

Northern Manhattan Perinatal Partnership
(212) 665-2600
Union Settlement Association
(212) 828-6000

Funding for the NYC Lead Outreach Campaign was made possible by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (Grant # NYLOR0025-06)

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