We cannot begin making appointments until July 19, which will also be a walk in day in both McLean County and Livingston County. This program pays $150 on electric bills for at risk households:

• seniors 60 and over;
• persons receiving SS, SSI or VA disability payments or who have pending documentation;
• those households with a child aged 2 or under; and
• households where someone has a serious medical condition aggravated by extreme heat – they must provide a Dr’s letter dated within the last ninety days.

There is no reconnection assistance with this program and no cash payments for renters where the landlord pays the electricity. Income guidelines remain the same as last year.

Please contact a MCCA office for additional information or call on or after July 19 for an appointment – we will post additional walk in days as they are determined.

In McLean County, call 309-829-0691
In Livingston County, call 815-844-3201

Mid Central Community Action is accepting applications for the IDA (Individual Development Accounts) program.  If you are looking to purchase a house, go to college, or start your own business you should apply.  The program helps you save money towards your goal and at the end of the program MCCA will match the funds you have saved 2 to 1 (limit is $2,000). 

Application forms are available from the MCCA office, or download one from the website.

For more information, see the IDA page

Tornado damage in Dwight. Photo by Kelly Krug

On Saturday night, tornadoes ripped across Central Illinois, leaving a trail of damage that most of us can only imagine in our worst dreams. Homes in Peoria, Dwight, Streator and surrounding areas were ripped from their foundations, cars were lifted into the air and deposited many feet away, huge trees were uprooted, power lines were downed and a train was derailed.

(Report from ChicagoBreakingNews.com)

MCCA is able to assist residents in Livingston County with car repairs for cars that were damaged by the tornado, and with a security deposit or first month’s rent should they have to move due to tornado damage.

To receive this assistance, residents must be employed, and be at or below 200% of the poverty level. See guidelines below:

For households with more than eight (8) residents, please add $623 (30 Day Income), or $7,480 (Annual Income) for each additional person

For more information, or to apply for assistance, please call the Livingston County office in Pontiac on (815) 844 3201, or email CathyG@MCCAinc.org

The program closed on May 31, 2010 and will begin again on September 1, 2010. In the meantime, we expect to be able to offer a summer cooling program in late July 2010 for elderly and vulnerable populations. Watch this website for more details as soon as they are available.

What happens if you don’t mail your form back? If you do not mail back your census form, a census taker will visit your home in person in May to ensure that the Bureau accurately count each person in the country. It costs the Census Bureau just $0.42 when people mail back their form, compared to $57 for census takers to visit each home.

Didn’t receive a form? Be Counted forms, available in English, Spanish, Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese and Russian, can be picked up in nearly 39,000 community locations nationwide and mailed back in the attached postage-paid envelope. To find a Be Counted site near you, go to 2010census.gov

College students: Those living off-campus should have already received a form in the mail. All students living at the address are considered one household, so only one form should be completed. Students in campus housing should receive a form from their Resident Assistant. The Census Bureau has a helpful YouTube video called “Census on Campus” – click here to view it!

Most of the questions you may have about the Census are answered here.

MCCA’s nomination for the 2010 Families of Distinction is Samanthe Boyd.

Each year, the Illinois Association of Community Action Agencies (IACAA) honors families who have benefitted in some way from Community Services Block Grant (CSBG) programs. Samanthe Boyd was nominated by Community Services Case Worker, Becky Berry, for the achievement of completing Mid Central Community Action’s Individual Development Account pilot program. Ms. Boyd is a 26 year old single mother of three sons, ages 9, 8 and 5. She works full time for a cleaning company with an annual income of $24,000 (125% poverty level for a family of 4).

In October 2007, Samanthe inquired about Mid Central Community Action’s (MCCA) Individual Development Account pilot program (IDA) which was created for the purpose to help participants gain financial literacy and save money for the purchase of a home. After enrolling in the IDA program Samanthe opened a savings account and deposited an initial $40 in the State Farm Bank sponsored program. Ther after, Ms. Boyd deposited at least $10 per week during the next two years. During this time, Ms. Boyd also became familiar with banks and savings accounts; learned budgeting skills; built assets; repaired credit; took the Homebuyer’s Education class; and received monthly case management that included referrals, guidance, and support. On November 30, 2009, two years after beginning the IDA program, Samanthe was able to buy her first home. MCCA matched Samanthe’s savings of $1000 with a 2 to 1 match (for a total MCCA contribution of $2,000). In addition, she was eligible for an Affordable Housing Coalition grant of $5,000 because she had successfully completed the Homebuyer’s Education class through MCCA’s housing department.

Samanthe’s life journey puts this amazing accomplishment into perspective and demonstrates Ms. Boyd’s dream of “owning my own home for us” and her determination to create the best life possible for herself and her sons.

In 2000, at the age of 16 (a mere 10 years ago), Samanthe’s mother emancipated her so that she could get her own apartment. Her first apartment was through the Bloomington Housing Authority. During this time, she earned her GED, got a job to buy her first car, and had her first son. After a couple of years, she received Section 8 housing and rented a “really nice place.” Ms. Boyd states that she was able to “manage my credit and paid my bills on time which really helped.”

In 2007, at age 23, Samanthe was now a mother of three young sons (7, 6 and 2). She was managing well, but wanted “to have a place I could call mine.” After learning about MCCA’s IDA program, she decided it was the time to begin saving for her dream of home ownership. On a salary of $280 per week and working 25 hours per week, Samanthe made the commitment to save $10 weekly. Samanthe was diligent and timely in her deposits. By September 2009, Samanthe had accumulated a total of $1416 and was ready to buy her home! Samanthe and her sons are now enjoying their three bedroom home with a finished basement in Bloomington.

As Samanthe’s caseworker during her involvement in the IDA program, I am very proud of her accomplishments. She is a very quiet, self-determined woman. It has been a pleasure to meet with Ms. Boyd and help provide her with the information, guidance, and support she needed. Samanthe was always willing and eager to learn and follow through with suggestions and information. Not only did Samanthe have high expectations for herself, she accomplished her goals under extremely difficult circumstances – a young, single mother and low income. But, she exemplifies what can happen with the correct mindset, initiative, self-discipline, and willingness to learn. Ms. Boyd ends her story with these words: “I’m really thankful of this (IDA) program and everyone who as helped me at Mid Central Community Action.”

Mid Central Community Action and I are honored to have had the opportunity to play a small part in Samanthe Boyd realizing her dream!

The goals of the SAP are to:

• introduce entrepreneurial opportunities in sustainable agriculture
• provide classroom education and hands-on training about fundamental sustainable agricultural methods
• engage the local food network
• teach basic techniques for small-scale food processing (and other agricultural products)
• educate about and expand access to the local food network through community based agricultural education

Workshops include classroom instruction, field demonstration days and hands-on learning components. Interns will be placed with local sustainable agriculture or horticultural organizations.

To be eligible for this program, participants must:

• be prepared for manual labor
• commit to a 3-5 month internship (full- or part-time)
• be at or below 200% of the poverty level
• be willing to complete a background check
  be ready to start placement no later than May 10, 2010

There are limited scholarships available for students!

If you need more information, please contact Nicolette Slagle at 309 268 8446 or nicolette.slagle@heartland.edu

On April 17th, as part of Money Smart Week, MCCA will offer a hands-on workshop designed to demonstrate easy and inexpensive ways to save energy around the home. These “green” methods of saving energy will also result in saving money!

The workshop will also demonstrate how to achieve your savings goals with the money you have saved on your utility bills.

For more details, visit our Facebook  page, or call Memuna Lee on (309) 834 9233 or email MemunaL@MCCAinc.org

MCCA has been designated as a tax site for the Center for Economic Progress again in 2010.

Starting on January 25th, 2010, families  with incomes of less than $55,000 and individuals with incomes of less than $30,000 can have their taxes prepared  at no cost. The service will be available on Mondays, from 9am until 3pm and 5pm until 7pm. Customers who do not have a bank account in which to deposit their refund will be able to open a savings or checking account at the time of their appointment.

Appointments are available on a first come, first served basis.

In order to expedite your appointment, please bring the following documentation with you:

• All W-2s and 1099s (if any)
• Social Security cards or Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers (ITIN) for all family members
• Valid photo ID
• Copy of last year’s tax return, if available
• Bank account number and routing number to direct deposit your refund
• Property tax bill
• Amount spent on college expenses

For more information on this service and other tax site locations, please call the Center for Economic Progress at (888) 827-8511, or visit www.economicprogress.org

U.S. President Barack Obama visits a Northern Virginia Home Depot to discuss home improvements and energy savings in Alexandria, Virginia December 15, 2009. REUTERS/Larry Downing

President Barack Obama certainly is walking the walk when it comes to weatherizing America’s homes.

Five billion dollars was included in the economic stimulus legislation for the Weatherization Assistance Program, the federal program started in 1976 to help low-income families. And more recently the president has proposed a “cash for caulkers” incentive program for homeowners modeled on the successful “cash for clunkers” autos program earlier this year.

He has called weatherization a “smart thing to do.” I couldn’t agree more.

Community Action agencies have been operating the Weatherization Assistance Program locally since its inception, and we are geared up for a busy 2010 when the President expects half a million homes to be retrofitted with proper insulation, new windows, modernized heating and the like to make them more energy efficient.

Since it was started, the Weatherization Assistance Program has provided services to 6.2 million low-income families who cannot afford the cost of the repairs.

What I like most about the program is that it is diagnostically driven, using a blower door that demonstrates how much air is infiltrating the home. With this information, we can determine how best to make the fixes necessary to reduce a family’s energy use – and utility bills.

The government estimates low-income families save an average of $350 or more each year after their homes are weatherized.

The program also tests for carbon monoxide levels in homes with gas appliances, so that when the house is tightened it does not create a health issue for residents.

But the benefits of the program extend beyond those that go directly to the homeowner.
It creates employment – 52 direct jobs and 23 indirect ones for every million dollars invested, according to federal estimates. That gives people the opportunity to work for a decent wage and, in some cases, the ability to move to higher-paying jobs within the building trades.

With the national employment rate at 10 percent, that is no small thing. The program also reduces national energy demand by the equivalent of 18 million barrels of oil per year, and it helps the environment by reducing harmful emissions.

Overall, the Department of Energy estimates that for every dollar invested, weatherization returns $1.65 in energy-related benefits and $1.07 in other benefits like reducing pollution and unemployment.

Statistics like these are important, but what’s more important to me is what President Obama’s $5 billion belief in the Weatherization Assistance Program will mean on the ground. With weatherized homes, families no longer are too cold in the winter, and they can spend their energy savings on food, medicine and other necessities of life.

Contractors can avoid layoffs and actually add to their workforce. Once-jobless workers will be trained and employed retrofitting homes to make them more energy efficient. Thanks to the greatly increased funds for weatherization in the stimulus bill, there will be more stories like these.

Community Action agencies have been involved in this work for a long time, and 2010 promises to be our busiest year ever. But our experience tells us with certainty that more weatherized homes are good for the country both economically and environmentally. It’s time to get to work.