Winter is coming and many Mainers will be struggling to keep warm when the temperatures go down and the snow starts to fly. Are you interested in helping those who are unable to winterize their homes this winter? The Keep ME Warm Program will provide winterization materials to community volunteers to help winterize homes of eligible residents.

The KMW 09 program is different from last years and is intended to move the program toward a sustainable model and provide a broader energy savings impact for Maine homes long term. One important example of this is direct volunteer team access to a list of weatherization items through a contracted vendor and customized window inserts designed by Charlie Wing, nationally renowned author and energy expert, and produced through a collaborative effort with the Maine Department of Health and Human Services, the Maine Department of Corrections, Habitat for Humanity/7 Rivers Maine, and the Maine State Housing Authority.

To launch the KMW 09 effort, we are offering training featuring Charlie Wing as instructor for volunteers and teams to prepare for this winter’s projects. Training is a prerequisite for accessing KMW 09 funded weatherization materials. At least one person on each “team” (3-4 person), planning to install weatherization items in residents’ homes, must have completed the training.

A training session will be held December 14th, from 10:00 AM – 2:00 PM at the York County Community Action Office at 6 Spruce Street, Sanford, Maine – please bring a brown bag lunch. Pre-registration is required by contacting the University of Maine Cooperative Extension, York County office at 207-324 2814 or email rgowdy@umext.maine.edu.

KMW 09 program resources (windows and weatherization materials) are free to teams but are extremely limited (enough to serve approx. 2,400 of over 70,000 eligible Maine residents), and will be allocated based on 2008 percentages of Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) eligible residents per county. At the county level, these limited resources will be allocated based on a first come, first served basis of eligible residents and available teams to provide assessment and installation.