{"id":20948,"date":"2024-05-07T09:30:49","date_gmt":"2024-05-07T13:30:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsroom.ocfl.net\/?p=20948"},"modified":"2024-05-07T09:10:50","modified_gmt":"2024-05-07T13:10:50","slug":"community-action-division-helps-low-income-seniors-stay-cool","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsroom.ocfl.net\/2024\/05\/community-action-division-helps-low-income-seniors-stay-cool\/","title":{"rendered":"Community Action Division Helps Low-income Seniors Stay Cool"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>May is Community Action Month, and the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ocfl.net\/FamiliesHealthSocialSvcs\/CommunityActionDivision.aspx\">Orange County Community Action Division<\/a> has no shortage of programs to assist low-income families who want to achieve economic stability. One such federally funded grant program is the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ocfl.net\/Portals\/0\/Library\/Families-Health-Social%20Svcs\/docs\/SeniorsClimateEfficiencyProgram-CERT.pdf\">Senior Climate Efficiency Program<\/a>, which provides low-income seniors (60+) with air conditioner replacement, service or system upgrades.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is actually a very important issue, especially for low-income seniors,\u201d said Ben Paquin, program manager, Orange County Family Services. \u201cIt can become quite dangerous for seniors who don\u2019t have A\/C, and some have been living without it for a few years, which is unfathomable when you consider how hot it gets here in the summer months.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Program services include automatically replacing the air conditioner if the unit is more than 10 years old or there are mismatched units.\u00a0 The program also provides service and cleaning; installs smart thermostats with auto-function capability; provides A\/C filters; and repair\/seal ductwork. Seniors are also taught how to operate an efficient A\/C and thermostat.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s no cost to the homeowner, but we do get backlogged because applicants need to go through the approval process and we need to schedule local contractors to do the work,\u201d explained Paquin, who has about 50 homes on his waiting list. \u201cLiving in Florida, we take air conditioning for granted, but you\u2019d be surprised how many people don\u2019t have working A\/C units.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Paquin affirmed the large majority of A\/C units need to be replaced because they are 10 years old or older, which makes them ineffective and unreliable. From the County\u2019s perspective, the goal is to help keep seniors in their homes \u2014 whether by repairing or replacing A\/C units \u2014 so seniors can age in place and not have to leave because living conditions are unsafe.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn Florida, air conditioning is a basic human need, so it\u2019s about providing this need for elderly residents and allowing them to stay in their homes,\u201d asserted Paquin. \u201cThe houses they grew up in have old or broken air conditioners at this point, and they can\u2019t afford to fix it or get a new one, so if we can help with that, it\u2019s our responsibility to do so.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>To qualify for the program, residents must be 60 years of age or older and already have qualified for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.energy.gov\/scep\/wap\/weatherization-assistance-program\">Weatherization Assistance Program<\/a>, or qualified for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ocfl.net\/FamiliesHealthSocialSvcs\/EmploymentAssistance.aspx\">Family Self-Sufficiency Program<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ocfl.net\/FamiliesHealthSocialSvcs\/EnergyBillAssistance.aspx\">Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.myflfamilies.com\/services\/public-assistance\/supplemental-nutrition-assistance-program-snap\">Food Stamps<\/a> or <a href=\"https:\/\/apps.ocfl.net\/section8\/PptySearch.asp\">Section 8 Housing<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Orange County Community Action is a division of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.orangecountyfl.net\/familieshealthsocialsvcs.aspx\">Community and Family Services Department<\/a>. For more on its programs and services, as well as its <a href=\"https:\/\/www.orangecountyfl.net\/Portals\/0\/Library\/Families-Health-Social%20Svcs\/docs\/Community%20Center%20Locations%20for%20Employment%20CERT.pdf\">seven Community Centers<\/a>, go to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ocfl.net\/FamiliesHealthSocialSvcs\/CommunityActionDivision.aspx\">Community Action Division<\/a>. Residents interested in the program can contact Ben Paquin at 407-836-0918 or Ben.Paquin@ocfl.net.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>May is Community Action Month, and the Orange County Community Action Division has no shortage of programs to assist low-income families who want to achieve economic stability. One such federally funded grant program is the Senior Climate Efficiency Program, which provides low-income seniors (60+) with air conditioner replacement, service or system upgrades. \u201cThis is actually [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":31,"featured_media":20950,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[431,370,371],"class_list":["post-20948","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community-services","tag-community-action","tag-community-action-division","tag-community-action-month"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Community Action Division Helps Low-income Seniors Stay Cool<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/newsroom.ocfl.net\/2024\/05\/community-action-division-helps-low-income-seniors-stay-cool\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Community Action Division Helps Low-income Seniors Stay Cool\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"May is Community Action Month, and the Orange County Community Action Division has no shortage of programs to assist low-income families who want to achieve economic stability. One such federally funded grant program is the Senior Climate Efficiency Program, which provides low-income seniors (60+) with air conditioner replacement, service or system upgrades. \u201cThis is actually [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/newsroom.ocfl.net\/2024\/05\/community-action-division-helps-low-income-seniors-stay-cool\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"OCFL Newsroom\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/OrangeCountyFlorida\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-05-07T13:30:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/newsroom.ocfl.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/iStock-1316651541-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1707\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Chris Romero\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@OrangeCoFL\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@OrangeCoFL\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Chris Romero\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newsroom.ocfl.net\\\/2024\\\/05\\\/community-action-division-helps-low-income-seniors-stay-cool\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newsroom.ocfl.net\\\/2024\\\/05\\\/community-action-division-helps-low-income-seniors-stay-cool\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Chris Romero\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newsroom.ocfl.net\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/a48aae4d9682c49980e8bfb742c62e4a\"},\"headline\":\"Community Action Division Helps Low-income Seniors Stay Cool\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-05-07T13:30:49+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newsroom.ocfl.net\\\/2024\\\/05\\\/community-action-division-helps-low-income-seniors-stay-cool\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":462,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newsroom.ocfl.net\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newsroom.ocfl.net\\\/2024\\\/05\\\/community-action-division-helps-low-income-seniors-stay-cool\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newsroom.ocfl.net\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/04\\\/iStock-1316651541-scaled.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Community Action\",\"Community Action Division\",\"Community Action Month\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Community &amp; Services\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newsroom.ocfl.net\\\/2024\\\/05\\\/community-action-division-helps-low-income-seniors-stay-cool\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newsroom.ocfl.net\\\/2024\\\/05\\\/community-action-division-helps-low-income-seniors-stay-cool\\\/\",\"name\":\"Community Action Division Helps Low-income Seniors Stay Cool\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newsroom.ocfl.net\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newsroom.ocfl.net\\\/2024\\\/05\\\/community-action-division-helps-low-income-seniors-stay-cool\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newsroom.ocfl.net\\\/2024\\\/05\\\/community-action-division-helps-low-income-seniors-stay-cool\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newsroom.ocfl.net\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/04\\\/iStock-1316651541-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-05-07T13:30:49+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newsroom.ocfl.net\\\/2024\\\/05\\\/community-action-division-helps-low-income-seniors-stay-cool\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/newsroom.ocfl.net\\\/2024\\\/05\\\/community-action-division-helps-low-income-seniors-stay-cool\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newsroom.ocfl.net\\\/2024\\\/05\\\/community-action-division-helps-low-income-seniors-stay-cool\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newsroom.ocfl.net\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/04\\\/iStock-1316651541-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newsroom.ocfl.net\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/04\\\/iStock-1316651541-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1707,\"caption\":\"Air conditioner unit outdoors in side yard of a brick home in hot summer season. 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