With today’s housing market fluctuating with the economy, a little-known program for people with limited income will help them stay in their homes and go along with President Obama’s green plan.
According to Taft Wilson, of the Southwest Arkansas Development Council, based in Texarkana, “anyone who receives SSI is automatically qualified for the program.”
Income guidelines set down by the federal government are known as poverty guidelines and as are as follows:
Yearly Income Limits
Persons in Family:
1 person--100 percent poverty guidelines: $10,830; 150 percent poverty guidelines: $16,245.
2 persons--100 percent: $14,570; 150 percent: $21,855.
3 persons--$18,310; 150 percent: $27,465
4 persons--$22,050; 150 percent: $30,075
5 persons--$25,790; 150 percent: $38,685
The Weatherization Assistance Program has been around since 1975 and has helped thousands of people weatherize their houses, Wilson said. The program is underwritten locally by the Southwest Arkansas Development Council and the U. S. Department of Energy in all 50 states, and among Native American tribes.
Both renters and owners of dwellings, with the exception of apartments and schools, can be considered eligible if they meet income limits, he said.
Typical measures that are completed by the weatherization process include installing insulation; reducing air infiltration; performing tune-ups and repairs to heating and cooling systems; replacing appliances such as stoves and refrigerators to improve efficiency and safety, and replacing incandescent lighting with compact fluorescent bulbs. The process also includes replacing weather stripping around doors and windows.
“This year, we can offer $3,000 of work for free per dwelling,” Wilson said. “One-hundred and seventy eight houses are eligible in 2009 and our time period is from April 1, 2009-March 31, 2010. That means we can repair 14 houses a month throughout the five counties. We’ll be going along with Obama’s green plan and make each house we do an energy efficient home.”
Inspections are also free to the homeowner or renter. The tenant has to have the landlord’s permission to have the work done and must go by income guidelines.
“This is the best kept secret out there,” Wilson said. “And it’s 100 percent free to the tenants and homeowners.”
The five counties included in the Southwest Arkansas Development Council are Hempstead, Howard, Lafayette, Little River, Miller, Nevada, and Sevier Counties.
For more information, on this and other programs provided through SWADC, call Wilson at 870-773-5504 or 800-814-2103.
