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My name is Bernard, the new community organizer for Green Jobs - Green New York. I moved to Syracuse shortly after graduating last year and work in the non-profit sector as a teacher and organizer. Just letting everyone know that the state government has put aside grant money to help people get their homes assessed for free/low-cost, and to pay for half of any upgrades that people want to do. This comes from things as small as new windows to insulation to larger projects like new furnaces. Since the median age of homes in this city is 58 years, I'm thinking this is a project that is LONG overdue. And with the government paying for half the work, plus us offering random discounts, I feel this is a real opportunity for people.
Welcome to Syracuse, Bernard. Is this program just for the city or does it include the suburbs? I assume there are income qualifications and /or restrictions. If so, what are they? Are certain neighborhoods in the city ineligible if they are located in census tracts with lower poverty rates and higher median or household income? Neighborhoods like Sedgwick, Meadowbrook, Winkworth, and parts of Strathmore come to mind. Is there a specific amount of funding allotted to the city and once it dries up the program is no longer available? Does the state plan to provide additional funding in future years? Is this program available to owner occupants of multi-family properties? Are houses built after a certain year still eligible?
Answers to these questions would help people better understand the program and see if they would be eligible to participate.
This sounds like a good program especially considering the age of the housing stock in the city. Good luck.
@Vintage: The program is for people in the city, suburbs, AND surrounding counties.
@Rolls:
1. There are no income qualifications actually. The only real qualification is that if you make less than 200% the median income ($131,400 in Onondaga County), the initial assessment is free. After that it increases by percent of median income. So, at $131,000 - $164,250 it's $50 and so on.
2. No one is ineligible. It's simply a matter how far you want to take it. If a lower income family just wants insulation to avoid drafts in colder months, then that's all they would get. The beauty of government funding means that it's non-profit. So the staff here (me especially) doesn't push anything on anyone. My job is just to get the word out and let people know about the opportunity.
3. We have a cap for ourselves in terms of staffing, literature, travel and so forth. In terms of how much the government use to match funds, I do not think so. I do know, however, that they are paying for half of work up to a certain limit, which is $13,000 for most and $25,000 in special cases.
4. The contract we have with the state now is 2 years, so it will end in December 2013. Talks to extend the contract would happen maybe Q2 of next year.
5. The program is available to homeowners, renters, landlords of 1-4 units, businesses and non-profits.
Great questions. I strongly encourage people to ask more questions on this forum so others can have any potential questions answered.
You may want to contact several local media outlets to raise awareness of the program. The Post-Standard, Syracuse's daily newspaper publishes a quarterly insert called "Green CNY." In the past they have covered similiar stories, including efforts to improve energy efficiency of blighted properties on the city's near west side.
To taget certain audiences I would recommend the following publications:
The Eagle, is a free newspaper published weekly by the Eagle Newspapers, a group that publishes about 10 different newspapers in the various suburbs and outlying areas of Onondaga and Madison counties. The Eagle is distributed in the city and is targeted toward city residents and those that work in the city. The Eagle
Syracuse New Times - This is a weekly free publication that covers a variety of stories related to local entertainment, the arts, politics, and social justice issues that often focus on urban areas. Syracuse New Times
The Constitution/Urban CNY - Monthly publication published by the Eagle Newspapers that features stories of interest to the black community. The publication also has an online-edition that is updated frequently. The Constitution/Urban CNY News online edition
CNY Vision - Weekly publication for Syracuse's black community
Welcome to CNY Vision | Syracuse NY | Newspaper (http://www.cnyvision.com/site/ - broken link)
CNY Latino - CNY Latino... reach, sell, and market the Latino consumer... find, touch, communicate, and convince the Hispanic population (http://www.cnylatino.com/EN/Newspapers_Index.html - broken link)
@Vintage: The program is for people in the city, suburbs, AND surrounding counties.
@Rolls:
1. There are no income qualifications actually. The only real qualification is that if you make less than 200% the median income ($131,400 in Onondaga County), the initial assessment is free. After that it increases by percent of median income. So, at $131,000 - $164,250 it's $50 and so on.
2. No one is ineligible. It's simply a matter how far you want to take it. If a lower income family just wants insulation to avoid drafts in colder months, then that's all they would get. The beauty of government funding means that it's non-profit. So the staff here (me especially) doesn't push anything on anyone. My job is just to get the word out and let people know about the opportunity.
3. We have a cap for ourselves in terms of staffing, literature, travel and so forth. In terms of how much the government use to match funds, I do not think so. I do know, however, that they are paying for half of work up to a certain limit, which is $13,000 for most and $25,000 in special cases.
4. The contract we have with the state now is 2 years, so it will end in December 2013. Talks to extend the contract would happen maybe Q2 of next year.
5. The program is available to homeowners, renters, landlords of 1-4 units, businesses and non-profits.
Great questions. I strongly encourage people to ask more questions on this forum so others can have any potential questions answered.
@Rolls: I've actually already sent press releases as well as general introduction pieces to all those applications. We have a few free ads on syracuse.com. The green section of the website seemed to not have any direct contact. I will create a thread and blog there though. Thank you for the suggestions.
@Rolls: I've actually already sent press releases as well as general introduction pieces to all those applications. We have a few free ads on syracuse.com. The green section of the website seemed to not have any direct contact. I will create a thread and blog there though. Thank you for the suggestions.
The latest issue of Green CNY lists the Managing Editor as Janis Barth. Her email is green@syracuse.com
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