United Way of Long Island Receives $3 Million Weatherization Grant

United Way of Long Island recently received a $3 million grant from the New York State Division of Housing and Community Renewal (DHCR).  These funds will target special needs and affordable housing projects including multi-unit dwellings in Nassau and Suffolk County, New York.

United Way is slated to weatherize 420 dwelling units on Long Island in the next 18 months between January 1, 2010 and June 30, 2011.  The initiative will include weatherizing non-profit agency owned and operated residences, with contract work to be completed by United Way’s Building Performance Institute (BPI) certified weatherization program.  This will be possible through the collaborative efforts of UWLI’s YouthBuild Green Collar trainees, participants from UWLI’s Green Job Corp Training program and skilled and accredited Long Island based weatherization contractors.

YouthBuild is an educational and vocational training program that prepares young adults 18 – 24 years of age for a career in the green building and home weatherization industry, as well as renewable energy and energy efficient technologies.  The Green Job Corp program is a 4 – 6 week industry specific training that prepares participants for direct entry into Long Island’s emerging green industry.  The weatherization contractors partnering with United Way in this initiative will provide the trainees with job shadowing, on-site training, and ultimately permanent job opportunities.  United Way and Suffolk Community College are developing a program to offer educational succession for those graduates wishing to take credit and non-credit offerings at the College for building science, advanced weatherization, thermography, renewable energy technologies, HERS rater, and BPI certifications.

“The existing partnership between Suffolk County Community College and United Way is designed to provide Stackable Credentials for the students enrolled in YouthBuild.  Our mission, as the regional training leader, is to provide relevant programs that lead to “Sustainable Careers,” said John Lombardo, Director of Corporate Training, Suffolk Community College.  “Weatherization is step one in developing a career path in renewable energy.  The College is committed to prepare students in both the foundations careers as well as the higher levels in energy assessment and U.S. Green Building Council Credentials.” 

United Way will provide energy case management services to non-profit agencies that work with income-eligible individuals and families (households with children, the elderly, persons with disabilities, and government projects that house this population) to substantially improve the energy efficiency of dwellings and to reduce expenditures for energy. Weatherization and energy conservation are critically needed in this housing sector where the operational costs and the cost of energy are the biggest barriers to sustaining these homes. Long Islanders who have the highest fuel costs relative to their household income are chosen by United Way supported agencies.

“These greatly needed funds will be used to prioritize weatherization projects that non-profit agencies run to help low-income people,” said Rick Wertheim, Senior Vice President, Housing & Green Development.  “All of these residential units are desperately in need of energy upgrades and modifications.  This is the most important work that can be done on an existing home to make affordable housing truly affordable and sustainable”.  Through the weatherization program, United Way is able to help our agencies run programs more efficiently by lowering costs through energy optimization.  This funding opportunity through New York State provides cost efficiencies to ultimately help lower taxes for all Long Islanders.”

Weatherization projects will be identified and prioritized through a network of United Way agencies that convened to identify special needs and affordable housing projects in conjunction with referrals from United Way’s Project Warmth and the Home Energy Assistance Program (HEAP).  These are for projects with the largest energy bills or the lowest performing homes.

“In addition to these financial assistance programs, projects will also be identified by an island-wide targeted outreach campaign as a result of our strong partnerships with LIPA and the National Grid,” said Theresa Regnante, President and CEO of the United Way of Long Island.

“National Grid is proud to work with the United Way of Long Island to address our customers’ energy needs. We continue to work with United Way of Long Island by providing energy training programs, grants and support to help those in need keep warm this winter. By combining the United Way grant money with National Grid’s energy efficiency natural gas incentives, we can improve the energy efficiency of these homes, providing greater comfort and reduced energy expenses, thereby saving taxpayers money,” said Judy Torres Regional Manager of Downstate New York Energy Efficiency.

For the past 10 years, United Way has operated special needs housing programs on Long Island and serves as an umbrella organization for special needs and affordable housing agencies in Suffolk County.  This includes 73 nonprofit housing providers in Suffolk County who are the owners of several hundred multi-unit residential buildings. 

In the last six years, United Way has focused primarily on energy efficiency and conservation in housing units to provide program sustainability and reduction in operating expenses.  United Way is committed to developing housing projects that employ energy conservation detailing and advanced weatherization.  United Way of Long Island is the first regional non-profit organization to mandate all new construction projects supported by public and private grant dollars to meet the Energy-Star standard.

About National Grid

National Grid is an international energy delivery company. In the U.S., National Grid delivers electricity to approximately 3.3 million customers in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York and Rhode Island, and manages the electricity network on Long Island under an agreement with the Long Island Power Authority (LIPA). It is the largest distributor of natural gas in the northeastern U.S., serving approximately 3.4 million customers in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York and Rhode Island. National Grid also owns over 4,000 megawatts of contracted electricity generation that provides power to over one million LIPA customers.