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Services: Weatherization & Home Safety

House being weatherized.Imagine trying to survive the winter in a house where it’s nearly as cold indoors as out. On remote reservations of the Southwest, where there are acute housing shortages and inadequate tribal funds for home improvements, many Elders face this challenge.

The Council of Indian Nations program addresses this problem through its Weatherization and Home Safety Improvement service. One of CIN’s oldest and most ambitious services, Weatherization and Home Safety aims to provide warm, safe homes for Elders.

The CIN program leads teams of community members and volunteers to weatherproof Elders’ homes by replacing flimsy doors, broken windows, dilapidated roofing, and cracked flooring. The Weatherization and Home Safety Improvement program also helps make homes safer for Elders by installing safety equipment such as grab bars and ramps.

In keeping with our mission to help Native American people improve the quality of their lives, volunteer community members are deeply involved in selecting Elders in need of this program. The members are responsible for completing all paperwork, evaluating the level of repairs needed in each home, overseeing the work, and carrying out the repairs.
 
In 2008, CIN services helped ensure over 50 Elders had a warmer and safer home last winter as well as distributed over 460 emergency kits to Elders in seven communities.

For a look at how this program impacts one community, click here to read the success story.

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