The CSBG Program sets to:

1)  Lessen poverty in communities

2)  Address the needs of low-income individuals including the homeless, migrants and the elderly

3)  Provide services and activities addressing employment, education, better use of available income, housing, nutrition, emergency services and/or health

In addition, discretionary grants are available at the statewide or local level, or for associations with demonstrated expertise in addressing the needs of low-income families, such as Community Action Agencies (CAAs).

 With the support of CSBG funding, Prairie Opp works to achieve the following goals for low-income individuals:

Increased self-sufficiency

Improved living conditions

Ownership of and pride in their communities

Strong family and support systems

Working together, agencies increase their capacity to achieve results. Partnerships among supporters and providers of services play a large role in the successful implementation of CSBG grants.

LIHEAP is one of our most well-known and highly utilized programs. LIHEAP provides financial assistance to eligible households to help pay the cost of home energy bills and other energy related services. Households may qualify for regular LIHEAP assistance and/or the Energy Crisis (emergency) Intervention Program (ECIP) for natural gas, wood, electricity, liquid petroleum propane/butane gas, and other energy related services.

LIHEAP helps pay the winter heating bills or summer cooling bills of low-income and elderly people. During extreme weather conditions, people living in poverty and low-income elderly should not have to choose between buying fuel to heat or cool their homes and buying food for themselves and their families. Since two-thirds of the families receiving LIHEAP assistance have incomes of less than $8,000 a year, the program clearly helps the people who need help the most.

WAP is designed to reduce energy costs for eligible clients by making their homes more energy efficient. The program focuses on assisting the elderly, disabled and low-income families with young children. Energy efficiency education is provided for each household weatherized. The priority measures that can be applied to each home are based on an energy audit of the client’s home. Weatherization crews install the most cost-effective, energy efficient measures, and address health and safety concerns, improve comfort and air quality.

Through this program, weatherization service providers install energy efficiency measures in the homes of qualifying homeowners free of charge. These are not expensive upgrades—the average expenditure limit is $6,500 per home—but they are effective, and energy savings pay for the upgrades within a few years. Department of Energy documents the savings and compares them against costs, so that over the years it can determine the efficacy of these measures.