Sue Charette has dedicated her time and efforts to help educate Detroit residents about lead poisoning.
Charette, the director of Leadbusters and coordinator of Detroit Lead Partnership, grew up in Royal Oak but has been living in Detroit for over seven years.
Charette attended school at Oakland Community College and Oakland University, where she studied human-resource development. She was a social worker on the adolescent psychiatric unit at Havenwyck Hospital for three years and later worked at a non-profit organization, where she remained for nine years.
Around that time, Charette was approached to form the Leadbusters program. Charette said that there were originally 12 founding members of the program, but now there are just four, including herself.
"The four of us are still together after six years," Charette said. "It’s pretty amazing, but I think it’s because we’re all dedicated."
Charette said that she became involved in the Leadbusters program and Detroit Lead Partnership because of her concern for the health of children and the environment.
"Lead poisoning is somewhat of an epidemic in our city, and there needs to be more education outreach," Charette said. "Getting the word out and putting pressure on the city council is very important."
She said the most rewarding part of her job is working with kids – both the Leadbusters teens and the children that have been poisoned.
"I just love kids and seem to have a good rapport with them," she said.
Charette gives most of the credit to her Leadbusters team members: Lashawna Roberts, Lamont Cox and Andrew Gregory.
Gregory, Roberts and Cox tour the houses, taking dust samples from suspicious areas. They then screen these samples for lead.
While the tests are being conducted, Charette informs the residents of the dangers of lead poisoning and shows them how to use a lead dust cleaning kit supplied free of charge.
"They don’t let me do any work," Charette said. "I just sit there and talk to the parents. These guys do such a good job."
Charette said that she enjoys rowing and kayaking in her free time. She owns a kayak that she stores at a friend’s house on Lake Orion. Charette said that she has kayaked in the Irish Sea and around Michigan. She has rowed down the Detroit River and taken a few rowing lessons at Belle Isle.
Charette enjoys listening to music. She appreciates jazz and classical music, and is a fan of the Dave Matthews Band.
"And of course I am a Motown gal from way back."
She also likes to read fiction, especially from female authors such as Toni Morrison, Barbara Kingsglover and Kay Gibson.
Charette said her dream job would be to continue working as the director of the Leadbusters team. However, her ideal vision of the Leadbusters program would include four teams of people and four vans that were available to transport the team members from house to house.
"The health department gives us all of our referrals, and they’re doing our sampling for free," Charette said. "We’re feeling more support than we did in the beginning. So, that’s a good thing."
Leadbusters is currently working to double the amount of children being tested for lead poisoning, creating a roster of lead-safe homes in Detroit and expanding resources to organize and educate citizens.