Angelic Greene opened her Maywood, Illinois, home-based child care early in 2020, right before the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Soon after, Angelic learned from the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) that she had high lead levels in her water after performing a lead-in-water test. Angelic immediately installed a filter at her kitchen sink and had to hang up signs in the bathrooms to let the children know the water was unsafe to drink.
Replacing a lead service line is extremely costly and can overwhelm child care providers. These factors, paired with the cost of mitigation, made enrolling in LeadCare Cook County an easy decision for Angelic. “I’m very grateful for being a part of the program, getting the pipes replaced, and making the water safer for my family and my daycare kids. It’s exciting to know that this is a safe environment for the kids to have clean water for them to drink,” Angelic said.