This is ECC's first policy report on weatherizing distressed properties. We're taking the first steps toward improving housing quality and providing access to energy services in our communities. The report includes extensive background research, a field survey of the Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP), and three focus groups of weatherization service providers and affordable housing managers that work in communities ravaged by housing divestment and neglect. It reveals that those that need weatherization the most are least likely to get it because the costs of major structural upgrades and other health and safety issues fall outside the training and cost abilities of WAP. On the other hand, the report also reveals the heroic and entrepreneurial efforts of WAP providers to patch together low-cost solutions, with which ECC has worked to present options for better inter-agency coordination, standardized protocols, documentation and reporting, and more. The report was a collaborative project of several of ECC board members, including Community Action Agency as lead, Youth Build, Enterprise Community Partners and NeighborWorks.

http://www.emeraldcities.org/images/resources/ECC_DistressedHousing.fin(WEB).pdf