![\"Civic](\"http:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mea\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2016\/12\/civic-works-1-1.jpg\")
<\/a>Civic Works Retro\ufb01t Baltimore Program Manager Evie Schwartz and Director of the Baltimore Center for Green Careers (BCGC) Eli Allen<\/p><\/div>\n
Civic Works a non-pro\ufb01t working to strengthen Baltimore\u2019s neighborhoods leveraged funding from the MEA\u2019s FY15 Low-to-Moderate Income Grant Program to reach residents not served by other government and utility energy ef\ufb01ciency programs. This focused effort on \ufb01lling service gaps has resulted in improved home energy ef\ufb01ciency for 303 low- and moderate-income families in the Baltimore region in 2015, families that have also enjoyed health, safety, and \ufb01nancial resilience bene\ufb01ts through the programs.<\/p>\n
With funding from MEA, Civic Works\u2019 Project Lightbulb program makes energy conservation visits to low-to-moderate income households located in Baltimore County, providing residents with information about reducing energy use and installing energy ef\ufb01ciency measures at no cost. Project Lightbulb trains teams of corps members, who serve approximately three months with Civic Works and receive a modest stipend and job development training. Project Lightbulb corps members work as community educators and advisors, engaging and educating low-to-moderate income residents on the energy ef\ufb01ciency bene\ufb01ts of installing low-cost upgrades in order to participate in the program. Then, corps members install CFLs, LED lights, faucet aerators, low-\ufb02ow showerheads, water heater wraps and pipe insulation in the home.<\/p>\n
The program also installs energy-ef\ufb01cient \ufb01xtures and explains their use. By coupling the provision of free upgrades with resident education, Project Lightbulb ensures that residents are immediately able to begin bene\ufb01tting from the services. Engaging community networks and utilizing trusted messengers in the community to reach residents who typically would not implement energy ef\ufb01ciency measures enables the project to reach low-to-moderate income residents who would otherwise be left unserved.<\/p>\n
Civic Works has also been able to utilize an MEA-funded home energy upgrade and education program to perform more comprehensive measures beyond what Project Lightbulb offers. Measures such as increased insulation and weatherization can restore previously abandoned areas of the home to livability.<\/p>\n
As Monica, a Baltimore resident, related, \u201cMy bedroom was always either too hot or too cold. Whatever the temperature was outside, that was the temperature in the room.\u201d But weatherization changed all that. \u201cI am thrilled that my room is comfortable now,\u201d she said after the MEA-funded upgrades. Ofelia of Loch Raven in Baltimore has a similar story. \u201cFor fourteen years I slept in the back bedroom because my room was too frigid to sleep comfortably.\u201d Insulation made all the difference. \u201cI am forever grateful,\u201d she told her project team, \u201cfor all you have done for me and my daughter.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ofelia of Loch Raven in Baltimore has a similar story. \u201cFor fourteen years I slept in the back bedroom because my room was too frigid to sleep comfortably.\u201d Insulation made all the difference. \u201cI am forever grateful,\u201d she told her project team, \u201cfor all you have done for me and my daughter.\u201d<\/p>\n
MEA\u2019s 2015 LMI grant to Civic Works enabled home energy ef\ufb01ciency upgrades in which a certi\ufb01ed Building Performance Institute auditor analyzed the home using diagnostic tools to recommend cost-effective upgrades.\u00a0 By leveraging the advantages of weatherization work, health hazards and building envelope problems can be addressed together through insulation and moisture control, thereby improving the comfort and health of a home.<\/p>\n
MEA\u2019s 2015 LMI grant to Civic Works has helped create green career pathways out of poverty for Baltimore City residents. The three-month Energy Retro\ufb01t Training provides low-income residents with hands-on learning, industry-recognized certi\ufb01cations and essential skills. The grant also allows Civic Works to provide participants with 320 hours of on-the-job training in completing whole house air sealing and insulation projects\u2013work experience that is valued by employers. Since 2003, Civic Works\u2019 Baltimore Center for Green Careers has maintained an average job placement rate of 85%.<\/p>\n Through the combined efforts of Civic Works and MEA, the quest for energy ef\ufb01ciency is bene\ufb01ting Baltimore communities in increased home comfort, lower bills, green jobs\u2013and energy savings.<\/p>\n The MEA LMI Grant Program has been supporting projects that improve the energy performance of Maryland\u2019s low to moderate income housing since 2010.\u00a0 To learn about the next cycle of the grant program, visit energy.maryland.gov.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 2015 Clean Energy Communities Low-to-Moderate Income Grant Program Civic Works a non-pro\ufb01t working to strengthen Baltimore\u2019s neighborhoods leveraged funding from the MEA\u2019s FY15 Low-to-Moderate Income Grant Program to reach residents not served by other government and utility energy ef\ufb01ciency programs. This focused effort on \ufb01lling service gaps has resulted in …Learn more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":143,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[10,26,3],"tags":[119,145,185],"class_list":["post-613","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","category-newsletters","category-success-stories","tag-energy-equality","tag-low-to-moderate-income","tag-nonprofits"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/613","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/143"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=613"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/613\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":802,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/613\/revisions\/802"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=613"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=613"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=613"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/a><\/p>\n