With the help of HUD grant funding totaling $700,000, Cook County Department of Public Health provided lead abatement services to 48 suburban Cook County households in 2023. “Thanks to HUD’s investment, 127 children in suburban Cook County are now lead-safe,” said Dr. LaMar Hasbrouck, CCDPH’s chief operating officer.  After Berwyn residents Lisa Aguilar and James Pesch’s son, now 4, was diagnosed with lead poisoning last June, the couple applied for the Cook County Department of Public Health’s Lead Hazard Reduction Program and was approved for an $18,000 HUD grant in August.  In January, the health department assigned a nurse to the family’s son, replaced the front and back doors and screens and all 13 windows in the family’s home, painted the walls and ceilings in one of their rooms and replaced the exterior door of their garage. Aguilar and Pesch said they have “peace of mind” now that their son’s blood lead levels are within normal range. “We are very happy. We don’t have the problem of worrying about our son’s health anymore,” said Pesch. With 93 percent of its housing stock built before 1978, Berwyn has the second highest number of child referrals for elevated blood lead levels in CCDPH’s jurisdictions, Hasbrouck said. Learn more about the program at https://bit.ly/3SjKGPM.