En Marin Community Foundation (MCF) is committed to supporting local efforts that help low-income Marin residents easily access the information, incentives, and services that are necessary for comprehensive, integrated home improvements, that can positively impact health and well-being, and that can result in energy savings.  MCF has recognized MCE’s efforts in this area with a $164,000 grant to support our Healthy Homes Program, which provides energy efficiency and health and safety upgrades for income-qualified residents.

Thanks to this grant from MCF, MCE has been able to serve properties such as Marin Villa Estates, a 12-unit affordable housing property in the Canal District of Marin County. The property received a combined $55,000 from MCE’s Multifamily Energy Savings, Low Income Families & Tenants (LIFT), Income-qualified Solary Healthy Homes programs. These funds helped pay for the following upgrades:

• Electrical panels
• Structural issues, such as removal of dry rot
• Upgrades to Title 24-compliant windows
• Carbon monoxide monitors, LED light bulbs, and low-flow faucets

These upgrades improve the tenants’ comfort while removing fire hazards, increasing structural safety, improving indoor air quality, and lowering utility bills by saving over 3,300 kilowatt-hours per year. By stacking incentives from other MCE programs, the Healthy Homes Program can bring a comprehensive energy upgrade solution to customers, helping reduce energy bills while improving quality of life.

We would also like to thank the Alianza del Canal nonprofit in San Rafael for their work on this project. Canal Alliance empowers Latino immigrants by offering renewable energy and energy efficiency upgrades and by connecting them to housing, social services, workforce development, college access, and legal services. As the only provider of low-income housing in San Rafael’s Canal District, Canal Alliance also supports equitable communities. For more information on Canal Alliance’s work, see our blog post, “Las asociaciones comunitarias de la MCE fomentan la equidad medioambiental”, to learn more.

Partners like MCF and Canal Alliance make MCE’s work possible, bringing organizations together to better serve communities and the environment. MCE also received a grant from MCF to support our Programa Energy Storage. See “La MCE recibe una subvención de $750.000 para apoyar las instalaciones críticas de resiliencia” to learn more.