By Joanne Gerson
Cincinnati, OH — The City of Cincinnati is applying for a grant opportunity for nonprofits, including houses of worship (HOW) that serve disadvantage communities and invited FCGG to be a part of their grant application. They selected 8 HOW participating in our Energy Efficiency Initiative that met the grant criteria. If awarded, this grant will provide funding for energy assessments, insulation, HVAC systems, and lighting, and more, to improve the energy efficiency in buildings. This presents a significant opportunity for faith communities to receive funding to help with energy efficiency upgrades in their facilities and create jobs for minority business in the process.
This is not the first and will likely not be the last grant opportunity to come our way. Recently both OKI and EquaSion submitted grant applications that include funding for HOWs through FCGG. Another interesting proposal we are looking at may lower the cost of electricity, solar installations, or energy efficiency upgrades through purchase agreements in collaboration with a group of HOWs to take advantage of economies of scale.
We need to be prepared when the opportunity presents because the amount of time we are given to respond is generally very short. Here are two things you can do right now. Go the ‘Take Action’ tab on our website at FCGG.org/ to find the section for the Energy Efficiency Initiative. If you, or a member of your congregation, never completed the EEI Survey, please complete it. If your congregation already completed the Survey, please send us 13 consecutive months of utility bills for your facility. The instructions for getting your utility bills are in the EEI section on the FCGG.org website. Send them to Ken and for questions also, please write to Ken at Facilities@fcgg.org and Joanne at info@fcgg.org/. We do not share your information with the public without your permission. Together, we can help you save money to use for your important community work and reduced pollution to better care for our common home.