Program Helping People Weatherize Homes

PONTIAC, Mich. - Federal stimulus dollars are being used to help low-income and disabled people weatherize their homes and buy energy efficient appliances.

New insulation is one element of the weatherization program at a Pontiac home along with a new furnace and a new, energy efficient refrigerator. Funded by the federal stimulus program, homeowner Al-Lisha Jackson couldn't be more pleased with the investment and her savings.

"I am ecstatic, and it means a lot to me," said Jackson. "We won't be out... that much money... We can save money and... maybe do something else... positive with the money that we're saving."

The Oakland Livingston Human Service Agency is coordinating the program in those counties, and the average investment grant is about $5,000 a home.

Beyond saving money and helping people, the program is also aimed at stimulating the local economy.

"We're hiring local folks to do that work. It's skill training for them, real green jobs... and not only that, but then they're buying the materials locally. So, they're going to the local lumberyard to buy that insulation, to buy the caulk and to keep that money right here in Pontiac and Oakland County," said Don Jones with the Oakland Livingston Human Service Agency.

Critics argue the stimulus program has been slow in getting money into the economy.

"We're helping neighbors and neighborhoods to become more energy efficient, which ends up saving people money. So, people can save money while putting people to work. It's the kind of investments that the Recovery Act was really designed to do," said Rep. Gary Peters.

Statewide, the weatherization program is ambitious.

"We're going to be able to weatherize more than 35,000 homes over the period of the next couple of years," said Beth Bingham, director of the Michigan Economic Recovery Office.

For more information, visit the Oakland Livingston Human Service Agency at www.olhsa.org.