CLEVELAND — Ahead of his state budget proposal on Friday, Governor Mike DeWine made a stop in Cleveland to highlight an issue that affects so many folks in Northeast Ohio.
The governor says he wants to not only pour money into funding programs to stop lead poisoning, he also wants to tear down blighted homes across the state and form a committee to keep tabs on how the state is tackling the problem.
"Our commitment to you is we want to be more helpful than the state has been in the past," said DeWine.
Parents in Northeast Ohio who've been dealing with this problem for decades are rejoicing.
"This is the first governor that I think actually came here to see what the problem is and take hold and want to do something," said Robin Brown.
Brown's daughter was poisoned by lead at just four years old.
She was diagnosed at 14 times the amount of lead that can safely be in your body.
"When she was in the hospital I thought that was a full treatment cure for her, I didn’t know that was just the beginning of a lifetime of possible problems," said Brown.
Her daughter is now 23, but Brown says life has been hard.
She formed an organization called Concerned Citizens Organized Against Lead to help other parents deal with issues after their children have been poisoned.
Brown says she's looking forward to how the governor can help.
"Lead poisoning does not go away, this is a life time issue and we have to recognize that there are things that occur, to these children in their lives and we have to have the resources for them," said Brown.
Children in Cuyahoga County make up 40 percent of those affected by elevated lead levels in our state.
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