Many homes in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, were built decades ago, and as they age, some need repairs.
Allison Sweere is with Revitalize Milwaukee, a nonprofit that offers free home repairs to low-income seniors, veterans, and residents with disabilities.
“We see a lot of homeowners who don’t have access to running water in their kitchen or their bathroom,” she says. “There’s not working lights in entire floors of these homes. The porches and the doors are rotted.”
She says many homes are also poorly insulated or have old furnaces, so residents have more expensive heating bills. And they often rely on inefficient or dangerous ways of staying warm, like using the oven for heat.
To help, Revitalize Milwaukee connects qualified homeowners with free weatherization services like air sealing or pipe insulation. Some residents even receive new furnaces or electric heat pumps.
By reducing energy waste, these improvements cut carbon pollution and save people money on their utility bills.
“It’s been really cool to be able to make sure that homeowners who have invested so much into our city … to kind of give back to them and make sure that they get to be part of the shift towards a more energy efficient world,” Sweere says.
And the program helps homeowners stay comfortable and safe in their homes.
Reporting credit: Ethan Freedman / ChavoBart Digital Media