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KAINE LENDS HELPING HAND

July 30, 2009 12:36 am

BY AMY FLOWERS UMBLE

Gov. Tim Kaine got some hands-on experience in King George County yesterday about just how much training is required to perform green jobs.

Luckily, federal stimulus money is paying for more training of crews working to improve energy efficiency for low-income residents.

As Kaine discovered when he tried to install a new water-saving faucet head, weatherization is a complicated business. When the governor screwed on the faucet in a home off of State Route 218 in the Passapatanzy area, water sprayed in all directions.

He and his cabinet members stopped by the trailer of Katherine Smith to highlight the weatherization program, which provides energy audits and upgrades to low-income households.

"It's a critical thing in terms of the economy and also in terms of the environment," Kaine said.

He, his cabinet and senior staff toured the Fredericksburg area "to shine a spotlight on some good things," Kaine said.

For most of the day, he focused on the economy, detailing both ways to help the needy and how to boost the work force. The group met with three local nonprofits and area business leaders at five stops.

Kaine started at 9 a.m. by visiting Smith and thanking her for showing others the value of weatherization. Kaine also got his hands dirty sealing a floor vent in Smith's kitchen.

The Rappahannock Area Agency on Aging has run the weatherization program locally for more than 30 years. But many still don't know about it or what it does.

"It's not just handing out light bulbs and caulking," said Lil Weston, RAAA housing inspector.

The little-known program is getting a large boost lately. In addition to Kaine's attention, the program received $5 billion nationwide in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds.

Locally, administrators are already spending the $958,000 they're getting. That's the first half.

To get the rest, weatherization crews must complete work on 123 houses in Fredericksburg and its four surrounding counties. Typically, those crews finish 50 each year.

The boost is good news to the 80 people locally waiting for weatherization work.

The program is now coming into its own, Kaine said.

"Energy costs are rising, and everyone needs to be more concerned about efficiency and energy savings, especially people in low incomes," he said.

While energy efficiency saves money, it requires a somewhat hefty investment. The typical energy audit can cost $500. And that's before the costs of insulation, replacing heating systems, wrapping wires and more.

So the weatherization program puts energy efficiency in the hands of people who could use it the most. The average client saves about 25 percent, said Thuy Lam, deputy director of the RAAA.

And even more importantly, Weston said, the changes make houses healthier. In many cases, she's convinced the work saves lives.

Weston has performed an energy audits and found conditions so unsafe they could kill the home's residents.

In the past, she often didn't have enough money to do every upgrade. She and her crew had to prioritize.

But the stimulus money doesn't just mean more people will get work done. It also means more work will get done on each job, she said.

She's already added compact fluorescent light bulbs and Energy Star appliances to some clients' homes. One resident cried when presented with a brand-new refrigerator.

Kaine heard more stories about Virginians struggling in the recession when he visited the Fredericksburg Area Food Bank yesterday afternoon.

He presented $1 million to the state's federation of food banks. The state budget gave money to food banks this year for the first time ever, recognizing that donations are decreasing as more people come for help.

In May, for example, nearly 7,000 people received food from the area agency, more than double the amount of people seeking help in May 2008, said Oya Oliver, director of Fredericksburg's food bank.

So the $1 million should come in handy, she said. The state's seven food banks pulled together to buy food with the money, and trucks have already dropped off the first deliveries of food.

Overall, the money will provide almost 600,000 meals for hungry people in the Fredericksburg area.

Kaine and his cabinet provided a little more personal help for 135 area senior citizens--by packing that many boxes for the Food For Life program.

At the next stop, Rappahannock Goodwill Industries president Woody Van Valkenburgh regretted he didn't have similar tasks for the governor--but he did take them on a tour of RGI's laundry, which employs 119 disabled workers.

Kaine then announced that stimulus money will provide the agency with a new van.

That 15-passenger commuter van will ferry workers from Culpeper County to Quantico, where RGI recently scored a new federal contract to employ disabled workers.

Statewide, Kaine said, that stimulus money has already started training 1,000 Virginians with disabilities to enter the work force. About half of them should be employed within the year.

"When resources are tough, and the economy is tough, we really need to get creative," Kaine said.

Amy Flowers Umble: 540/735-1973
Email: aumble@freelancestar.com