Linda and Jim are two elderly clients of Community Action of Washington County (CAO) who were in need of weatherization assistance. Jim is severely impacted with health problems and must use a feeding tube directly into his stomach.

Linda and Jim’s furnace had been non-functional for 15 years, so they had been using a wood stove to heat their mobile home for over a decade. Using a wood stove was unsustainable due to Jim’s respiratory issues, leading them to start using space heaters. However, they couldn’t evenly heat their whole home due breaker problems. Before receiving assistance from CAO, their home was very drafty and had several critical weatherization issues.

CAO worked with contractors to do several upgrades. They added insulation into the ceiling and floor, installed a new kitchen fan, and replaced single pane metal windows with double pane vinyl windows. The project had many successful weatherization impacts including:

• A five-fold reduction in duct leakage
• A nearly three-fold reduction in air infiltration
• Installation of a new heat pump furnace (Linda stated that it had NEVER been this warm in their mobile home, even when they purchased it 33 years ago. Additionally, the air conditioning was great during the heat and really helped Jim’s quality of life).

Linda said she is THRILLED with Community Action’s program and that it FAR exceeded her expectations. She said, “I can’t say how much this program has meant to us. I never dreamed that we would get so much. I LOVE our new windows and the fact that we have even heat throughout the entire home. I don’t have to go warm up the bathroom with a space heater for Jim and then worry about him getting cold when he comes out.”

Linda and Jim are not done with their upgrades yet! They are working with CAO partner Washington County to install a wheelchair ramp and grab bars near their bathtub.

Submitted by Community Action of Washington County