A new grant is offering a boost to a local group fighting lead poisoning.
The LeadSafeCNY Coalition has won $150,000 from the Mother Cabrini Health Foundation, allowing it to hire its first coordinator. Coalition Chair Darrell Buckingham said the idea is to have someone who can coordinate the myriad of programs touching the lead poisoning issue.
"It’s so important that we have someone who could dedicate full-time work not just to wrangle the troops, but to really strategize on how we don't duplicate each other's work, you know, how we might better decide where such funding should go, how we decide what we should apply for in terms of funding, what tabling opportunities, who's not at the table," Buckingham said.
He said a new coalition coordinator won’t conflict with the job of Onondaga County’s lead coordinator. The latest figures from the Health Department show almost 12% of Syracuse children tested had elevated lead levels in their blood. Buckinghams said one goal of the new coordinator will be to do a better job communicating the impacts of that, from learning disabilities to violent behavior.
"And you know as a city we have a great deal of violent crime that's happening with our youth," Buckingham said. "Gun violence and all sorts of things that we're not, we're not attributing to lead poisoning. I'm sure that this is not enough outrage and so we just want to be better about our messaging and helping folks better understand that this is something that shouldn't be happening."
Buckingham said he hopes to announce a hire early this month.
