Help Keep Seniors Safe At Home and Cool This Summer!

EnergyCare works to protect low-income, home-bound people—especially the elderly, and seriously ill or physically disabled adults and children—from illness, hospitalization or death from summer heat or winter cold. When people call EnergyCare’s year-round telephone helpline in crisis, Service Providers counsel them about surviving their energy-related emergencies. They give them information about heating and cooling bill assistance programs, and, most importantly, they also identify and help vulnerable people who have immediate needs.

Our summer program distributing air conditioners to elderly, disabled, or other vulnerable homebound people across the St. Louis region is in full swing now. Heat is the number one cause of weather-related deaths: making air conditioning more than just a comfort - it's a necessity. In some St. Louis neighborhoods, with older brick homes and miles of concrete and asphalt surrounding them, temperatures climb even higher than the air temperature: as the buildings and streets heat up and release that heat well into the night. This creates a dangerously hot environment where residents who are unable to escape the neighborhood will have no respite. People suffering from heart disease, diabetes, asthma, and other conditions are at serious risk from these hot environments, as heat puts a strain even on the healthiest. It is no wonder that in these same neighborhoods, the average life expectancy is sometimes 15 years younger than in wealthier neighborhoods which often have trees, and where all homes are air conditioned and insulated well. Your gift now will instantly make a home in St. Louis safer, healthier, and improve a local senior's mental and physical health.