In recent weeks, we’ve been publishing a series of stories I’ve been working on for the last 10 months, all on lead poisoning. With more stories still on the way, I don’t even want to know the amount of hours I’ve spent working on it.
It’s been the most emotionally draining project of my career and, I believe, the most important one.
My journey with the topic began at the 2022 State of Memphis Housing Summit. Between sessions, I stopped at a table set up by Shelby County officials warning about lead in homes and struck up a conversation.
While I’d heard about lead poisoning a couple of times prior, I’d never really taken it seriously. But the folks at the table told me I needed to pay attention since my home was built before 1978, and my wife and I were about to have a child. There could easily be enough lead in my home to damage my child’s brain, they said.
Kids exposed to lead in early childhood — I would later learn — tend to perform worse in school than their peers and face a higher risk of developmental disabilities and mental illnesses.
Since I earned too much to qualify for the county’s Lead Hazard Control Program, my wife and I purchased some testing supplies. And sure enough, we found lead paint peeking through in multiple places where newer layers of paint had chipped away.
I hired a contractor to encapsulate the lead and felt like I’d dodged a bullet. But I still didn’t know if there was a story I could write; I had plenty of other projects on my plate.
Do you live in a home built before 1978 and have children under 6 living with you or visiting often? Call the City of Memphis Lead-Safe program at 901-636-5323 or the Shelby County Lead Hazard Control program at 901-222-7605 to see if you qualify for a free inspection — and possible renovation — of your home. To find out when your home was built, go to the Shelby County Assessor of Property website or Realtor.com.
But in the spring of 2023, God brought the issue back to my attention. A city official asked if I could write about the city’s lead paint removal program, so I grabbed coffee with the woman in charge of it, Tavita Conway.
Over coffee, Conway convinced me I had greatly underestimated the problem: Hundreds of local kids — all as precious as mine — were diagnosed with lead poisoning each year, and the local efforts to protect them faced a host of challenges.
Shortly afterward, I happened to discover — if you believe in coincidence — former Tennessee Govs. Phil Bredesen and Bill Haslam’s podcast and listened to an episode on crime. In it, the renowned criminal justice economist Jennifer Doleac discussed lead poisoning as a contributor to crime that’s not getting enough attention.
I was officially hooked. Over the next 10 months, I conducted about 30 interviews with experts and parents of lead-poisoned children.
The experts convinced me that lead poisoning is one of the most critical issues facing Shelby County and should be a top priority for our elected officials.
The parents broke my heart. After multiple interviews, I had to step away from work for an hour or so to compose myself. I couldn’t imagine being in their shoes.
I hope my stories will help our community better protect its children so fewer families face these trials.
If my efforts lead to even a dozen fewer children being lead poisoned, they’ll have been well worth my time.
Jacob Steimer is the housing and development reporter for MLK50: Justice Through Journalism.
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