Stimulus funds help to create, retain more than 500 jobs

SPRINGFIELD, Ill., July 6 /PRNewswire/ -- The Illinois Association of Community Action Agencies (IACAA) today announced that its 35 member agencies weatherized more than 17,000 Illinois homes in the past year with the help of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funds, which is double the number of homes from the previous year without ARRA.

"We are creating green jobs, improving the energy efficiency of homes and helping low-income families reduce their energy costs because of the Weatherization Assistance Program," said Dalitso Sulamoyo, President and CEO of the IACAA. "Weatherization helps households, on average, save $437 per year on utility bills."

IACAA's members created and retained more than 500 Illinois jobs according to IACAA's report "Keeping the Promise: Weatherizing Homes, Creating Green Jobs, Helping Families" released today. The new jobs were added by the state and IACAA member agencies to operate the WAP and increase the number of contractors and crews weatherizing homes.

Larry Dawson, deputy director of the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, Office of Energy Assistance, reports, "The DCEO Office of Energy Assistance has trained more than 1,500 weatherization workers in Illinois Weatherization Standards and lead-safe work practices. The individuals completing the weatherization work are highly trained and professional."

The energy conservation from weatherization helps the U.S. reduce its dependency on foreign oil. According to the U.S. Department of Energy website, "weatherization reduces national energy demand by the equivalent of 17.9 million barrels of oil each year."

Weatherization also is good for the environment. Weatherization reduces carbon dioxide emissions by 2.65 metric tons per home per year.

Community Action agencies throughout Illinois spent almost $43 million in ARRA funds to weatherize homes last year, but the work of Community Action is not done. There are still many more families that need assistance in these troubled times. Illinois received $240 million from ARRA over a three-year period to expand the WAP. With two years of ARRA-funded weatherization work to complete, IACAA member agencies are aggressively pursuing their goals to weatherize even more homes in their communities.

For 30 years IACAA and its members have been pioneers of green work through the Weatherization program. Typical weatherization services include: installing insulation, sealing ducts and replacing furnaces, windows or doors.

ABOUT IACAA

The Illinois Association of Community Action Agencies is a membership organization which serves as the network for Illinois not-for-profit corporations and units of government which strive to raise the health, education and economic standards of Illinois low income population. Visit the website at www.iacaanet.org.

SOURCE Illinois Association of Community Action Agencies

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