Age-Friendly south portland
distributes home weatherization kits
by sarah currie

Age-Friendly South Portland and the South Portland Sustainability Office have collaborated to assemble and distribute 300 home weatherization kits for homeowners or renters in South Portland.  With additional funding from an AARP Challenge Grant and the Maine Community Foundation, the kits contain basic hardware store tools such as door guards to keep out cold air, caulking, plastic window covering material, and outlet covers, explained Lisa Joyce, a member of Age-Friendly South Portland.  Also included in the kit are a QR code to a professionally made video that provides a helpful “how-to” demonstration for the items in the kit, and a list of community resources that offer help with heating assistance.  

Due to anticipated overwhelming interest in the weatherization kits, organizers decided to distribute them 100 at a time at three different community events in hopes of giving the widest variety of residents the greatest opportunity to obtain one.  They chose a “Senior Resource Fair,” South Portland’s Hazardous Waste Disposal Day, and Voting Day as distribution events.  Lisa said that 100 kits were gone in 25 minutes at the first event.  

Other collaborations between Age-Friendly South Portland and South Portland town offices have also seen success and contributed to improving quality of life for residents. Age-Friendly South Portland worked with Habitat for Humanity’s Critical Home Repair program to help make homes safer for older adults and helped assemble a two-person team of a South Portland employee and a professional energy auditor who provided 50 free home energy audits.  Lisa said that without advertising very much, the energy audit program has been very popular and now has 140 people on the waiting list.  

One of Age-Friendly South Portland’s most successful programs has been the one that delivers winter sand buckets to residents. Lisa explained that that program brings many resources together from the local scout troops who make holiday cards to go with the deliveries to the local bakery that donates the donuts to feed the public works crew, the local swim team and the mayor, all of whom come out to help with distribution.  

Age-Friendly South Portland has gained a reputation for productive outcomes by being visible in the community and encouraging collaboration with town, local, and funding partners.  Winter-ready residents are examples of this success.