The Community Services Agency (CSA) Home Weatherization Assistance Program helps low-income families by identifying areas of energy loss and providing solutions to make their homes safer and warmer.
The CSA Weatherization Assistance Program sends auditors and HVAC contractors to approximately 125 homes each winter. They often discover homes with inadequate or no insulation and provide insulation at no cost, along with water heaters, furnaces, and weather stripping.
"When a furnace goes out, sometimes that can be upwards of 7 or 8 thousand dollars, and if you're living on a paycheck to paycheck budget, those kinds of repairs are sometimes completely out of reach for families in our community," said CAS Weatherization Assistance Program manager Jessica Mahon.
Mahon recommends that individuals should be mindful of any gaps or spaces beneath their doors.
"Putting something as small as an eighth inch under your door can be the same as leaving your window half open all day long. And those are extremely affordable options. You can go right down to your home improvement store and get things like door sweeps and weather stripping and install those as a DIY project. It can make a huge difference in your energy bill and comfort during the winter," explained Mahon.
The average cost of weatherization per home for the program ranges from sixteen to twenty thousand dollars.
Angela Hernandez, Support Specialist for the Weather Assistance Program, spends a significant amount of her time assisting applicants in gathering documents to verify their proof of residence. She believes that helping families find the necessary documents during difficult times makes a meaningful difference.
"When there is no source of heat or a nonworking source of heat in the home, it's very crucial, and we're looking at families with small children with elderly individuals in the home and some cases there also sick or disabled," said Weather Assistance Program Support Specialist Angela Hernandez.
Regardless of income, everyone experiences high winter energy bills. NV Energy offers free energy audits to all residents, and most homeowners can benefit from these services.
"A huge concern is the bills; that's what typically brings them to the program, but it is a big one that brings them to me, and they're just like I want to find a way to save. What can we do to get somebody out here to get this assessment done to see what we've got going on because a lot of it is not visible to the homeowner," explained Hernandez.
Program Manager Jessica Mahon informs us that the U.S. Department of Energy and the Nevada Housing Division are the primary funders of the Community Services Agency Weatherization Assistance Program.
2024 Income Eligibility Guidelines
Family Size: 200% Poverty Guideline:
1 - $30,120
2 - $40,880
3 - $51,640
4 - $62,400
5 - 73,160
6 - 83,290
7 - $94,680
8 - $105,440
*For families with more than 8 persons, add $10,760 for each additional person.
