Marlen Pena and her daughter Belen on the newly built steps to their porch. Photo by Nick Hagen.

When Marlen Pena moved her family into a home in southwest Detroit, she wasn’t deterred by the obvious renovations the structure needed. She looked forward to fixing up the house herself.

One of the first tasks after moving in was re-painting. The beige-colored walls had to go. Pena quickly freshened them up with a lighter coat of paint. 

But the self-renovations quickly came to a halt after an unsettling doctor’s visit for Pena’s youngest child, Belen.  A routine physician’s appointment showed a high lead level in Belen’s bloodstream.

Learn more about Social Determinants of Health in Detroit

Lead is a potent neurotoxin that can impair learning, behavior, and hearing, potentially reducing IQ and attention issues in children if not addressed early. There is no safe level of lead exposure.

Not knowing where to start, Pena said she did some preliminary research that warned her of lead contaminants in paint. She contacted the city for help, and received a phone call from the city’s Detroit LeadSafe Housing program, which sent city contractors to find the source of Belan’s lead poisoning. 

Pena said they found lead throughout her home. “It was in the walls,” she said.

Marlen Pena sweeps her newly painted porch ceiling that previous had exposed lead paint. photo by Nick Hagen.

A silent threat

Lead is a common problem in Detroit homes. Children are often exposed at home by ingesting lead-contaminated dust and paint chips – a particular problem in homes built before 1978 when Congress banned lead paint in residential settings. According to state data, nearly 90% of Detroit homes were built before 1980.

“The housing stock [in Detroit] is not up to par,” Rishanak Medhipana, an associate professor at the University of Michigan’s School of Public Health. “You have outdated homes. Lead paint is a huge issue; if you have children living in them, that’s a big issue.”

Detroit launched its Detroit LeadSafe Housing program in 2016, The program targets census tracts and zip codes with a high proportion of homes built before 1978 that house children. It uses federal funds to reduce the threat of lead exposure, typically by capping contaminated surfaces. 

“There have been a lot of children in the city of Detroit that have become lead poisoned and that are continuing to be lead poisoned,” LeadSafe Program Director Karina Odom said.

In 2022, 3.7% of Michigan children tested had elevated blood lead levels, defined as 3.5 micrograms per deciliter. But in Detroit, 9.4% of kids tested had elevated blood lead levels. In 2022, 1,261 Detroit kids had elevated blood lead levels.

Symptoms of lead poisoning in children include weight loss, irritability, abdominal pain, and vomiting. Long-term effects include chronic brain and nervous system damage, and can result in slowed development and behavior problems. 

Fortunately, Belen did not have any of these symptoms —  her exposure was caught early. After following protocols recommended by public health clinicians, which include removing the source of exposure, iron supplements and a healthy diet rich in fruits and vegetables, Belen’s blood lead level fell below the elevated criteria.,

Gaining trust

Marlen Pena closing one of her new lead-free windows. Photo by Nick Hagen.

Residents must live in the 48202, 48204, 48206, 48209, 48210, 48217, 48213, or 48214 zip codes, be low-income or enrolled in Medicaid, and have a child under six or pregnant woman in the home to be eligible for the city’s LeadSafe program, Odom said. 

The program has renovated 112 units, with 85 applicants being turned away for failing to meet eligibility requirements.

Because the city’s program is concentrated in southwest Detroit, where many residents speak only Spanish, the city contracted with Urban Neighborhood Initiatives, a 25-year-old community nonprofit based in the Springwells Neighborhood, to help conduct community outreach.

Mariela Brook Trejo, a communications & volunteer coordinator for UNI, said that many families in her community don’t understand the threat lead paint poses for their kids.

“We serve a large Hispanic Latino demographic. I know a lot of residents are not too familiar with what lead is and the effect it can have on the body,” Trejo said. “They don’t know how dangerous it really is for their families and children.”

Another challenge is the language barrier. Trejo said UNI works to translate all of its LeadSafe programs into Spanish, seeking to build community trust. “Representation is a big factor, especially for our residents,” she said. 

Once UNI began its marketing campaigns for LeadSafe, Trejo said the phone began ringing constantly. 

“We’ve heard many cases of children with lead in their bodies,” Trejo said. “People are always calling us to see how they can learn more about the program.”

Amelia Benavides-Colón is a southwest Detroit journalist with a passion for community storytelling. She has previously reported on breaking news, business, and features desks at The Detroit News, Crain’s Detroit Business, and Outlier Media — contributing and breaking news vital to her community and its residents.

She will be graduating with her degree in Journalism and Global Studies from WSU in 2024 with plans to pursue a career in national reporting with a focus on solutions-based journalism.