Cleveland Lead Advocates for Safe Housing (CLASH) is an all volunteer, largely self funded coalition of 9 community based organizations, working to make Cleveland Lead Safe. CLASH advocates for full and timely implementation of the Cleveland Lead Safe Certificate ordinance and to expand the scope of lead safe protections for Clevelanders who are at risk of lead poisoning.

When CLASH petitioned City Council to enact the Lead Safe Certificate Plan in 2019, that was the end of the beginning of a struggle to make Cleveland Lead Safe.

The Job is not over:

• Only about 12% of the registered rental properties in Cleveland are certified as being lead safe. Cleveland Building and Housing estimates that there are another 60,000 at risk properties that are not yet registered or certified.

• Only 55% of at risk children ages 12-29 months were tested for lead exposure in 2021--22. Better Health Partnership estimates that about 4,973 children in Cuyahoga County who received well baby check ups were not tested for lead. That doesn’t count the children who were not given well baby checkups.

• About 387 Cleveland properties (as of November 26, 2022) which are known to be lead hazards continue to spread lead dust and paint fragments to their neighbors. Many of these properties are occupied in violation of City Codes. None has been taken to court. Data for the 200 cases investigated in 2021-2022 are not available.

• For over a year the Ohio Department of Health has failed to come into compliance with CDC guidance issued in May 2021 to reduce the standard for lead poisoning from 5 micrograms/deciliter to 3.5 micrograms/deciliter.

Because CLASH is an all volunteer organization, your donation will be used for outreach and advocacy expenses during 2023; not salaries and consultants. Flyers, handcards, grocery store displays, signage and buttons. Throughout the year, CLASH volunteers provide information on lead hazards at community events. 

Your donation is the beginning of an on-going relationship. Every week CLASH provides an email update of lead safety news from Cleveland, Ohio and the US.

Learn more about CLASH by visiting http://clashcle.org

Your support is important for three reasons:

1. Philanthropic and Corporate donors want to see a base of individuals who have made a financial commitment to CLASH.

2. Sometimes, philanthropic and corporate donors require "a match".

3. Most importantly, individual donations are flexible, not earmarked so we can use your donation to address emerging issues during our program year.