Terry Moore remembers when he became the executive director at Almost Home Inc., 11 years ago and taking his first tour of Almost Home shelter, built in 1903.

    “As I walked up to the second level, I felt the temperature drop with each step,” he said. “We’ve made improvements over time to try to make it more efficient.”

    Almost Home, a nonprofit that provides temporary shelter and transitional housing for the working poor in Adams and southern Weld counties, is anticipating lower energy bills now that its Brighton homeless shelter received an energy makeover.

    The 104-year-old facility, operated as a family homeless shelter by Almost Home Inc. since 1996, recently was equipped with thousands of dollars worth of energy improvements, including duct and wall insulation, programmable thermostats, weatherproof doors and a new energy efficient washer.

The makeover was done through Energy Outreach Colorado’s Nonprofit Energy Efficiency Program, which provides free energy audits and efficiency upgrades for qualifying nonprofit facilities across the state.  Other funders for the project were Xcel Energy, United Power and Tri State Generation and Transmission Association.

“We’re very thankful to Energy Outreach, Xcel Energy and United Power for providing us with this amazing opportunity to improve our family homeless shelter facility, save energy and ensure future savings so we can continue to serve those homeless families and their children needing help in our community,” Moore said.

Energy Outreach Colorado is a nonprofit that raises funds for energy assistance and energy efficient housing for limited income Coloradans.  EOC established NEEP to help nonprofit facilities reduce operating costs and continue to provide vital community services.  In addition to Xcel Energy, United Power and Tri-State, it has partnered with other funding organizations including the Denver Office of Strategic Planning, Atmos Energy and SourceGas.

Since 2007, NEEP has provided 65 facilities with free energy audits and efficiency upgrades ranging from lighting and insulation to replacement windows and boilers.  

“Through programs like NEEP, they (Energy Outreach Colorado) provide in the case of Almost Home, energy assistance dollars for energy conservation,” Moore said. “If we spend less money on energy, we have more money to help clients directly.”

In addition to assisting with improvements on the Almost Home shelter, Moore said Energy Outreach Colorado provided Almost Home Inc. with $85,000 last year to help low income area residents with their utilities.

 “They are the primary funder of the emergency utility assistance that Almost Home provides and the primary supplier statewide,” Moore said. “I think everybody recognizes that being in a home that doesn’t have lights and gas is pretty much being homeless.”

Since 1989, EOC has raised more than $120 million to fund energy bill payment assistance and energy efficiency upgrades for affordable housing. Energy Outreach relies on individual donations, corporate contributions and foundation grants. For more information, visit www.EnergyOutreach.org or call 303-825-8750.