EnergyCare promotes healthier, safer home environments and independent living by providing year-round energy-related services in St. Louis communities for low-income households with persons who are elderly, disabled, or chronically ill, and young children.
EnergyCare was founded by Sister Patricia Ann Kelley, CCVI in 1983 following a deadly heatwave in 1980 and devastating blizzard in 1982 which took the lives of many vulnerable St. Louisans. Sister Pat worked as a teacher, vocational counselor and volunteer probation and parole officer as well as in hospitals and in pastoral service. After 25 years of religious life, she returned from a retreat determined to devote the rest of her life to helping the poor and elderly.
Unfortunately, Sister Pat was taken from us before she could see the real impact of her work. Today her legacy lives on in the volunteers and mission of EnergyCare. Tim O’Dea, the current Executive Director explains “Comfort isn’t the only consideration. It’s about people’s health and safety…Sister Pat’s goal lives on — to prevent vulnerable, elderly people from dying because they couldn’t afford the means to stay safe from the elements.” Over just the last 10 years EnergyCare has served 33,641 people in St. Louis City and County.
Many of our clients have lived in their homes most of their lives, but after retirement or after a health condition left them unable to work, found themselves unable to keep up basic maintenance and home improvements. Many of these small repairs add up to big energy inefficiencies. Energy burden in a simple equation with a complicated reality for many for our clients: it is the percentage of your income that goes towards utility bills. In the St. Louis region, the poorest households among us are spending twice as much of their income on utility bills as the wealthy with an energy burden around 12% of their annual incomes. Wealthier households in contrast spent 4-6% of their annual income on utility bills. As utility rates increase, this disparity will likely continue to grow, making our programs more important than ever.
High energy bills are a cause of homelessness and for elderly people this can be especially devastating. The loss of independence can have a serious impact on the mental and physical health of the elderly. In addition, extreme cold or heat can cause health problems for people over the age of 60, or those who suffer from common chronic conditions like diabetes, heart disease, and asthma. Our programs are designed to help seniors live healthy, independent lives for as long as possible.
EnergyCare is funded by the generosity of people like you, private foundations, and government grants. Most of our utility assistance is funded by federal programs that cover certain populations, often income-restricted and zip code restricted. This determines who we can serve and how much money we are able to put towards a utility payment. The support of individual donors like you is what allows us to be flexible and help more people and help people above the federal grants level to get their utilities reconnected or avoid a shut off. Your gift today helps us go above and beyond for our clients, keeping utilities connected and providing other services like the air conditioner and heater program – saving lives one degree at a time.
EnergyCare provides year-round assistance with heating, cooling, and energy conservation for seniors, disabled, and chronically ill people in the St. Louis region.
Volunteers can help with weatherization of our client homes, preparation of Weatherization kits and direct mailer and lead Weatherization groups.
We install home weatherization materials, setup portable heaters and electric blankets, or simply give out standard blankets for immediate warmth. For the heat we install window air conditioners.
Volunteers can help with weatherization of our client homes, preparation of Weatherization kits and direct mailer and lead Weatherization groups.
We install home weatherization materials, setup portable heaters and electric blankets, or simply give out standard blankets for immediate warmth. For the heat we install window air conditioners.
