Once a month, Syracuse brings all seven 
CBOs together to discuss successes and chal¬ 
lenges in signing up community members for 
the HEPA vacuum program. The group dis¬ 
cusses performance goals and measures they 
have taken to meet these goals. While atten¬ 
dance at monthly EMPACT meetings is 
good, high CBO staff turnover requires both 
continual and often repeated training. 
The CBOs also recruit bilingual community 
members, who become ambassadors for the 
lead dust effort and help enlist program par¬ 
ticipants. Chapter 4 has examples of tools the 
Syracuse Lead Dust Project and the CBOs 
have used in conducting outreach. 
Syracuse conducted a CBO survey in the 
Spring of 2002 to assess program effectiveness 
and to determine ways to increase program participation. A copy of the survey questionnaire is 
included in Chapter 9. The survey findings indicate that: 
• Tenants can be reluctant to participate in the HEPA vacuum program for a variety of rea¬ 
sons, including not wanting strangers to come in their house, fear of upsetting their land¬ 
lord, or thinking the program does not pertain to them. 
• Tenants often are embarrassed because they feel they are being judged on their housekeeping 
or cleanliness. 
• CBOs need more tools like flyers, newsletters, and Web sites to educate the tenants in their 
community. 
Based on the survey findings, Syracuse asked the CBOs to write implementation plans to guide 
their outreach activities and to bolster recruitment. As of July 2002, six of the seven plans had 
been submitted. Syracuse reviews and approves the plans, which then serve as blueprints for 
program implementation. The plan for the Westcott Community Center is shown on page 25 
as an example. 
Partnerships That Work 
T he city of Minneapolis partnered with neighbor¬ 
hood hardware store owners to implement the 
HEPA vacuum loaner program. The city has educated 
and trained hardware store personnel and has established 
Neighborhood Lead Centers in several locations. 
Minneapolis successfully recruits these business owners 
by showing them how they can benefit and how their 
knowledge about lead dust can serve as a marketing tool. 
The program also educates day care providers, who then 
educate the parents. Minneapolis also has enlisted the 
involvement of public health nurses who educate the 
children in day care settings about the importance of 
washing their hands and taking off their shoes. 
z 4 
Chapter 3 
