BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — Weathering the storm can be more difficult when your home is in need of repairs but home owners and renters don’t have to do it all on their own.
Staples Energy’s slogan is “Innovative, Savings, Solutions,” something they strive for through a number of ways.
“When you go to a home and the kids telling you, 'you're finally going to replace my light.' Something simple like a lightbulb, it gets you in the heart that we’re able to do something like that,” said Memo Marshal, the Outreach Development Manager for Staples’ Energy Income-Qualified Savings Assistance Program.
For 10 years, Memo worked with households across Kern County to bring them savings and repairs they needed.
“Some people need weather stripper on their doors because they see gaps in the bottom, some people have a 15, 20-year-old refrigerator, we'll take that one away and put a brand one in at no cost," he said. "A lot of people have water heaters that are not functioning properly, they have furnaces for their homes, their heaters, those are also at no cost."
Mariscal says a lot of people think this program only applies to those who make under a certain amount but in fact it depends greatly on the number of people in the household, including children. He says the more people living in the household, they higher your income qualifications. Those who qualify for other supplemental assistance programs like CAPK and WIC.
"It's income-qualified because there's a lot of different ways to qualify for this program," he said. “An example, one of them would be, say there’s four people living in your household, your income would have to be around $60,000 to $65,000 or less."
Mariscal says that the program is meant to help anyone who needs assistance from major updates to even the smallest task.
“For some people it could be a senior citizen who just needs help weather stripping the door. It might be something simple to someone like us to just get up and do but for them it is a huge help," Mariscal said.
While funding is limited and the program is first-come, first-served, Mariscal says the program renews every year in January and they cycle through applicants so as to help as many residents as possible every year.
