GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) – For over two decades a Brown County Resource Center with the help of volunteers has been protecting seniors and adults with disabilities from a potentially deadly winter killer.
This Saturday will be the 26th annual Project Heat’s On initiative which ensures home furnaces are safe for the winter season. The project is the collective brainchild of the Brown County Aging Resource Center and the Local 400 Plumbers & Steamfitters.
Most people don’t think of home furnaces as a potential danger, but Laurie Ropson, Quality Assurance Outreach Coordinator with the ADRC, says it’s a possible threat.
“It could create an unsafe environment for a person if they get carbon monoxide in their home,” she says.
The initiative is aimed at keeping elderly individuals, adults with disabilities, and low-income homeowners safe, because they might not be able to afford or perform the repairs themselves.
“There have been lives saved,” says Ropson.
The volunteers performing this life-saving work are retired or currently working professionals of the Local 400 Plumbers & Steamfitters. Laurie Ropson describes the work they’ll do on Saturday morning.
“They inspect the furnace, clean it, and make the minor repairs,” she says.
Over the past couple of decades, the project has grown and Ropson describes the number of homes they expect to reach on Saturday.
“Anywhere from 25 to 30 homes in Brown County,” she explains.
That number puts their volunteer team at capacity, but the hope is for individuals to recognize a need early on and contact the organization for next year’s campaign.
“If people know someone, a neighbor who is homebound, older, or disabled I would put them on a mailing list for an application for next year,” says Ropson.
