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| Weatherization information | Process
• Homeowners interested in the program first must meet with an EightCAP intake officer.
• After a homeowner is deemed eligible, an EightCAP inspector performs tests on the home and develops an action plan.
• The project then is referred to a private contractor, who determines how best to meet the action plan and completes the work.
• Finally, a separate inspector performs tests on the home again to make sure the project worked.
To apply
• Gratiot County - Roni Perez, (989) 463-5693 or 315 Prospect, Alma, MI 48801.
• Ionia County - Sue Eller, (616) 527-5507 or 413 W. Main St., Ionia, MI 48846.
• Isabella County - Mary Schneider, (989) 772-0110 or 300 W. Michigan, Mount Pleasant, MI 48858.
• Montcalm County - Sue Eller, (616) 754-2660 or 906 Oak Drive, Turk Lake, Greenville, MI 48838.
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3/28/2009 12:06:00 PM
Weatherization gets $5.3 million
Ryan Jeltema
News Editor
GREENVILLE - More than 900 local homeowners can get a slice of the $787 billion federal economic stimulus package.
EightCAP Inc. in Greenville has announced it recently received a $5.3 million special appropriation for its nearly 40-year-old weatherization program. The funds will be spent on making homes in Montcalm, Ionia, Gratiot and Isabella counties more weather tight - cutting homeowners' energy bills - at no cost to them.
EightCAP President John VanNieuwenhuyzen said the appropriation, which is meant to cover three years, will fund the weatherization program at five times its normal level of $700,000 annually. That allows the program to help hundreds more than the 125 to 165 low-income homeowners served annually.
"This makes as much sense as anything we're doing" with the stimulus funds, VanNieuwenhuyzen said. "This is going to have most long-lasting effect as anything in the stimulus package."
He said the funding will create or retain dozens of local jobs in construction and manufacturing supplies.
But homeowners will be the biggest winners. VanNieuwenhuyzen said that within 10 years they should save enough money on their energy bills to equal the project's cost.
"There is automatically a payback," VanNieuwenhuyzen said. "This provides them lower energy so they can use their resources on other things. We become a stronger nation because we use less energy."
EightCAP Weatherization Director Lloyd Walker said the agency is limited to an average of $6,500 per project. That is more than double the $3,000 average cost allowed until now.
People must meet income eligibility requirements for the program based on 200 percent of the poverty rate - $21,660 for a single person to $51,580 for a family of five. EightCAP intake officers determine eligibility.
Walker said the program operates on a first-come, first-served basis and allows a limited scope of work unless there is an emergency.
"Everything has to be energy related unless there is a health and safety issue," Walker said.
VanNieuwenhuyzen hopes residents take advantage of the program. He said ramping it up to meet the funding increase has been a "positive challenge."
"It's scary and exciting," VanNieuwenhuyzen said. "But we're going to do what our president has asked us to do."
VanNieuwenhuyzen said EightCAP is hiring two more intake officers and more inspectors just to handle the expected influx for weatherization. On April 4, the agency is hosting a forum for contractors interested in working with the program.
EightCAP also plans to open a satellite weatherization center to manage the program away from its headquarters near Turk Lake.
He said weatherization is one of the basic needs identified by President Barack Obama while the stimulus package was being debated. VanNieuwenhuyzen believes weatherization could continue receiving significant funding well into the future since 40 million American homes need help.
"If the government finds the will and is able, this could be up to a 10-year project," he said. "But for now we only have guaranteed funding for three years."
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