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Sustainable Middleborough offers weatherization navigation and outreach partnership to Lakeville
Summary
Sustainable Middleborough presented its weatherization navigation, outreach and advocacy services to Lakeville's Energy Advisory Committee on Nov. 3 and offered to collaborate on outreach and resident education.
Hayden, the weatherization navigator for Sustainable Middleborough, told the Lakeville Energy Advisory Committee that the nonprofit evolved from an adult‑education group into a MassCEC‑funded 501(c)(3) focused on education, outreach and advocacy. The organization maintains a weatherization guide and recorded workshops at sustainablemiddleborough.org, provides one‑on‑one navigation through efficiency upgrades and rebates, and runs tabling and community workshops. Leadership is largely volunteer.
Hayden said the group has worked with Middleborough Gas & Electric on low‑income rebates, carbon accounting and a zero‑to‑low percent loan program through a local financing partner. The group highlighted the limits of its service area (Middleborough is not in the Mass Save territory) but offered one‑on‑one support to residents outside municipal boundaries on a case‑by‑case basis.
Committee members asked whether Sustainable Middleborough could be linked from the town website and discussed how to coordinate outreach materials. Kimberly French, identified in the meeting as a president on the organization's board, said the group would provide printed materials for the committee and that the town manager's office had previously assisted with outreach lists.
Why it matters: Sustainable Middleborough provides low‑cost, locally tailored assistance that could expand outreach in Lakeville, increase homeowner weatherization actions and help residents access rebates and financing. The organization operates primarily through volunteers and limited paid staff; members were explicit that bandwidth and funding limit how far they can scale without local support.
No formal vote was taken. Committee members agreed to consider ways to publicize and collaborate, including newsletter items, sharing outreach materials at town events, and exploring links from municipal web pages.
"From a policy perspective, our asks generally carry more weight when there's more people ... supporting it," Hayden said, urging collaboration on local advocacy and outreach.
