Thursday, April 28, 2011

Free Weatherization Available to West Ward Home Owners


Posted by: Noël Jones

The West Ward Neighborhood Partnership is offering free weatherization to income qualified home owners and landlords with low-income tenants in the West Ward. Below are the details, in English and Spanish:


FREE WEATHERIZATION
Reduce your energy costs by insulating your home!
 
Weatherization Intake Counselors will be at the West Ward Neighborhood Partnership Office located at 668 Northampton Street on these days.

Weekday
Date
Start
End
Thursday
4/28/11
9 a.m.
12 p.m.
Thursday
5/12/11
10 a.m.
3 p.m.
Friday
5/20/11
4 p.m.
6 p.m.
Monday
5/23/11
9 p.m.
12 p.m.
Wednesday
5/25/11
10 a.m.
3 p.m.

To schedule an appointment call 484-893-1700


Whether you own or rent, live in a house, apartment or mobile home, you may be eligible to receive FREE WEATHERIZATION

Depending on the needs of the home, the Weatherization Program may provide: Insulation to your attic and basement, weather-stripping or caulking for windows and doors, furnace repair. You may also qualify for new Energy Star appliances.

Households receiving LIHEAP, TANF, or SSI Benefits automatically qualify



Income Guidelines
Household Size
Gross Annual Income
1
$ 21,780
2
$ 29,420
3
$ 37,060
4
$ 44,600
5
$ 52,3400
6
$ 59,980
7
$ 67,620
8
$ 75,260
Allow $7,640 for each additional person
Funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009


ARRA visita el “West Ward”
Reduzca sus costos de energía mediante el aislamiento de su hogar!

No importa si es dueño de la propiedad o inquilino, viva en una casa, apartamento, o casa móvil, usted puede tener derecho a recibir
Servicos de ACLIMATACIÓN GRATIS

Dependiendo de las necesidades del hogar, el Programa de Aclimatación preverá: aislamiento de su ático y el sótano ,selladura de ventanas y puertas y reparacióndel sistema de calefacción. También puede calificar para los nuevos electrodomésticos Energy Star

Familias que reciben beneficios de LIHEAP, TANF, o SSI son automáticamente elegibles.


Requistos de Ingreso 2011
Personas en el Hogar
Ingreso Annual Bruto
1
$ 21,780
2
$ 29,420
3
$ 37,060
4
$ 44,600
5
$ 52,3400
6
$ 59,980
7
$ 67,620
8
$ 75,260
Anada $7.640 respectivamente para
cada persona adicional
Representantes del Programa de Aclimatación estarán en la Oficina del “West Ward Neighborhood Partnership” los siguientes días

día de la semana
Fecha
Inicio
Fin
Jueves
4/28/11
9 a.m.
12 p.m.
Jueves
5/12/11
10 a.m.
3 p.m.
Viernes
5/20/11
4 p.m.
6 p.m.
Lunes
5/23/11
9 p.m.
12 p.m.
Miércoles
5/25/11
10 a.m.
3 p.m.

Para hacer una cita 484-893-1700


Financiado por el Acta Americana de Recuperación y Reinversión (ARRA) del 2009
La oficina del “West Ward Neighborhood Partnership” abre de 9-5 pm, lunes, martes, jueves y viernes.
610-515-0891


7 comments:

gruntled said...

Egads, 3 days and no posts here? What a great program...why aren't WW homeowners excited? Is anyone taking advantage of this program?

noel jones said...

gruntled--here's my guess:

most of the readers of this blog are likely to be middle-class, as it requires owning a working computer and being able to afford a monthly internet access bill (unless someone were to go to the library every day) to keep up with this blog. middle-class homeowners and renters cannot take advantage of this program, because we don't qualify if we make over $21,000/year (single person)--even if that's on unemployment or social security. i have talked to a lot of middle-class homeowners in the WW who are frustrated because they are struggling to keep their houses and cover their utility bills, especially in winter in all these old historic houses, and yet they cannot apply for the program, but landlords with low-income tenants can, which is a free opportunity to improve their property values on the taxpayer dollar.

weatherization would literally save hundreds of dollars each month for some struggling homeowners in winter, but broke is not broke enough--you have to either be below the poverty line, or you have to have tenants who are below the poverty line to reap the benefit. so middle-class residents are paying taxes for a benefit they can't even take advantage of themselves, so that others can benefit while they continue to struggle.

it's the type of thing that makes the struggling middle-class start to scratch their heads and wonder if they might not be able to weatherize their houses themselves if they were able to keep their tax money. as it stands now, the only way that a middle-class resident can weatherize his/her home on this program, is to stop struggling and fall across the poverty line.

i understand that the idea is to make utility bills lower for low-income residents, but it would be nice if the program had a provision so that if low-income residents and landlords with low-income tenants don't apply, that people in the next income bracket up could apply and so on and so forth. or just let us keep our taxes, because it does burn to watch landlords improving their properties on our tax dollar when we need the money ourselves.

noel jones said...

this comment was emailed to me by a reader who wasn't able to post:

Carinne says:
Exactly Noel. I am one of the WW residents who is greatly upset regarding this program being offered to renters. It is obviously unfair and illogical to improve property value of any owner that exceeds the maximum requirement. I do not qualify as a single income homeowner who works up to 3 jobs to live paycheck to paycheck, because I make a bit more than the cut off for the annual income. Yet the owners of the homes that surround me can make double, triple, or even more what I earn and get free improvements b/c they themselves wouldn’t dream of living in the area and instead rent to the poor (some not really poor just earning big bucks “under the table”)??!!! Someone explain how this isn’t an outrage! As far as the decrease in renters utility bills please remember there are assistance plans where a part of the bill is paid anyway based on the same low income standard.

noel jones said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
noel jones said...

Carinne--I think you mean the LIHEAP program, and that's a good point.

noel jones said...

(p.s. the deleted comment was my own duplicate of the comment before it--i must have double-clicked)

noel jones said...
This comment has been removed by the author.