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After this weekend, senior citizens in every Maine county will be living in warmer homes that are better prepared for winter. From Oct. 19-22, volunteers from Operation Keep ME Warm will be working statewide to winterize homes by installing energy conservation and efficiency products to reduce energy bills and winter drafts and to improve comfort for Maine’s low-income seniors and disabled homeowners.
Jean Morse is coordinator of the local branch of Operation Keep ME Warm and is responsible for UMaine’s involvement. This will be the first year UMaine participates by winterizing homes in Penobscot County. “I think that the volunteers [will] benefit by knowing that they have helped the senior citizens of their community,” Morse said.
One of the volunteers participating Saturday in Orono is Mason Glaude, a second-year economics major. “What initially made me want to participate was a news article I saw around mid-summer that talked about the Operation,” he explained. “I didn’t give [volunteering] that much thought up until a month ago, when I learned that there was someone here on campus that was in charge of [the program]. After that I decided I really wanted to be a part of Operation Keep Maine Warm.”
“All I really want to do it help people, and I suppose I will learn some valuable skills at the same time,” Glaude said.
Beth Nagusky from the Governor’s office in Augusta worked alongside Gov. Baldacci to design and initiate the operation in 2004. “It’s been terrific,” Nagusky said. “The homeowners are extremely appreciative that someone is showing that they care about them. The feedback we’ve gotten through a survey that was done in Waldo County last year [was] overwhelmingly positive.”
Though it takes a lot of effort to bring together everything across the state, Nagusky said she enjoys being involved. The hardest part is “understanding and appreciating how difficult some peoples’ lives are.”
The goal this year, through more efficient delivery mechanisms and well-organized county coordination, is to renovate 3,000 homes. Even more homeowners will be helped if there are leftovers from the materials provided by partners such as The Maine Housing Authority and Home Depot.
Winterizing seniors’ homes is important, because 80 percent of Maine people heat with oil, and even with the prices of oil and gas falling, it’s still expensive to keep a house warm. According to the Keep ME Warm’s Web site, “Nearly 51,000 qualify for home heating assistance based on income.” Of those, 48 percent are elderly homeowners.
To get involved as a volunteer, contact Jean Morse at 581-3177, or get more information online at www.volunteermaine.org.
Bangor Daily News