Lead-Safe Wisconsin: Find Funding Opportunities to Fix Lead Hazards
Learn about funding opportunities on this page. We include opportunities for both individuals and organizations.
Funding for individuals
There may be funds available in your community to help fix lead-based paint hazards. For example, there may be grants or loans available that prioritize homeowners with low to moderate incomes, or property owners who rent to people with low to moderate incomes.
The Wisconsin Department of Administration’s Division of Energy, Housing and Community Resources (DEHCR) has a directory of assistance programs that include help with housing, energy, and weatherization needs.
This program helps families make lead-based paint repairs to their homes.
Families may qualify for the program if they live in an older home that has peeling paint or old windows, and if they’re on Medicaid or BadgerCare Plus.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) funds programs that help low- and moderate-income homeowners with children under 6 fix their lead-based paint hazards.
These communities receive this type of funding from HUD:
City of Milwaukee
Lead Primary Prevention Program
414-286-2165
city.milwaukee.gov/Health/Services-and-Programs/HomeEnvironmentalHealth
Kenosha County
Kenosha/Racine Lead-Free Communities Partnership
262-605-6783
www.kenoshacounty.org/lead
Racine County
Kenosha/Racine Lead-Free Communities Partnership
262-605-6717
https://cityofracine.org/Health/Lead-Free/
- Rural Housing Repair Program—May be used for renovation and repair help
- Veterans Administration (VA) Home Loans—May be used for repairing or remodeling a veteran’s primary home
- Wisconsin Community Action Program Association—May be used for emergency rental assistance for Wisconsin residents
- Lead-in-Water Testing and Remediation Initiative - May be used for testing childcare centers for lead in drinking water
Funding for organizations
This donor list includes both government and private funding sources. Search both to find the ones that may apply to you and your needs. You can then prepare and submit a grant application.
Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance
The online Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance lets you access all the federal programs that are available to:
- Domestic public, semi-public, and private for-profit and nonprofit organizations and institutions.
- Federally recognized Tribal Nation governments.
- Individuals.
- Specialized groups.
- State and local governments (including the District of Columbia).
- Territories (and possessions) of the United States.
Once you find a program that interests you, you can contact the office that administers the program to learn how to apply.
Community planning and development programs
Community planning and development programs help a variety of people. The HUD CDBG program, for example, gives annual grants to:
- Entitled cities.
- States.
- Urban counties.
The goal is to provide decent housing and a suitable living environment. The program also works to expand economic opportunities—particularly for those earning low or moderate incomes.
Another program, the HOME Investment Partnerships Program (HOME), gives grants—often in partnership with local nonprofits groups—to pay for the building or renovating of affordable housing for low- or moderate-income families. It also gives grants to community groups that provide direct help with paying rent to low-income families.
This site lets organizations find and apply for more than 900 grant opportunities from 26 federal agencies online.
HUD gives grants to organizations and groups for variety of reasons, including fixing lead-based paint hazards. You can search for these types of grants on grants.gov. To read about available funds, funding announcements, and the grant system, visit HUD’s grants information page.
Candid provides information on:
- Grant programs.
- Fundraisers.
- Philanthropy.
The Greater Milwaukee Foundation is a permanent charitable endowment created for the community, by the community. The foundation contains hundreds of individual charitable funds, each created to serve the needs specified by its donors. The funds let the foundation give grants to nonprofit organizations in Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Washington, and Waukesha counties. The foundation uses a competitive application and review process to select grant recipients.
Medical College of Wisconsin’s Advancing a Healthier Wisconsin Endowment
This program provides an opportunity for community and Medical College of Wisconsin academic partners to develop programs designed to improve health in Wisconsin. The program focuses on the strength of community-academic partnerships.
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation works to improve health and health care opportunities for all Americans. It supports:
- Education.
- Projects that demonstrate how to effectively deliver health care services.
- Research (excluding biomedical research).
- Training.
The foundation focuses on health care systems and the conditions that promote better health.
University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health’s Community Grant Programs
The Wisconsin Partnership Program currently runs multiple community grant programs. Community Collaboration Grants give training and technical assistance to organizations so they can address social health inequalities. Community Impact Grants support large-scale, evidence-based, community-academic partnerships that work to improve the health of Wisconsin residents. Maternal and Child Health Grants support community organizations to reduce maternal and infant health disparities in underserved communities.