Darlene Medley joins in a chant with demonstrators outside her home on Pond Street in Syracuse in August, protesting the lack of remediation for lead in the house she rents. Two of her children have had high levels of lead. Credit: Mike Greenlar

The Central New York Community Foundation is looking for community input on how to spend $150,000 to address lead poisoning in Syracuse.

A group of Syracuse residents can volunteer to create a project that determines how the funds are spent. The project’s goal is to increase lead testing of children and homes.

Volunteers who attend 10 meetings through the fall and spring will hear from city and county officials, community leaders and other residents, according to the news release.

At the end of the process, the volunteers will vote on how the money gets spent and the winning project will get the money in May 2023.

There will be 10 meetings this fall and spring. Each meeting will run from 6:30 p.m. through 8:30 p.m. Food, translation and childcare will be available at each meeting.

  • Sept. 13 at Cafe Sankofa, 2323 South Salina St.
  • Oct. 4 at the Dunbar Center, 1453 South State St.
  • Nov. 15 at the Northside Women’s Center, 511 Butternut St.
  • Dec. 6 at PEACE, Inc, Eastside, 202 South Beech St.
  • Jan. 10 at Northside Women’s Center, 511 Butternut St.
  • Feb. 7 at PEACE, Inc., Westside, 200 Wyoming St.
  • Mar. 7 at Northside Learning Center, 501 Park St.
  • Apr. 4 PEACE, Inc., Southside, 217 South Salina St.
  • Apr. 18, Salt City Market community room, 484 South Salina St.
  • May 2, Salt City Market community room, 484 South Salina St.

Those who want to volunteer can sign up at cnycf.org/budgeting or by clicking here.

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Chris Libonati covers government, accountability and equity. Have a tip? Contact Chris at 585-290-0718 or libonati@centralcurrent.org.