In Pittsburgh, 66% of working families have to decide between paying their rent or paying their heating bill during the winter. In most cases, these families live in older homes that haven’t been well maintained, and consequently have very poor insulation and a lot of air leakage.

To address this problem, our Freedom by Design Chapter has designed, prototyped, and assembled Weatherization Kits. Each kit provides materials for weatherizing the home (such as door sweeps or window plastics). We then host a distribution event yearly that allows us to engage with the local communities and teach them how to use the materials provided. An instructional booklet is also included in the kit itself for later reference.

The project was awarded the NOMA NAACP SEED Award 2020, the Founder’s Choice FBD Top 15 in 2019, and has been featured in AIAS Grassroots Conference as well.