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A $20 million federal Community Change grant could have a major impact on the Troup-Chambers County area, especially for senior citizens on limited incomes. Officials from Groundswell Community Power discussed this at a kickoff meeting on Friday at the Jane Farrar Event Center in downtown Lanett.

The grant will be phased in over the next three years, and up to 500 households in east Alabama and west Georgia will be receiving home improvements and energy-efficient upgrades that could reduce their energy bills by as much as two-thirds over what they have been paying.

“These families will no longer have to struggle to keep their homes warm during winter cold snaps or cool in the mid-summer heat,” said Groundswell CEO Michelle Moore. “These upgrades will help residents withstand everything from snow and heavy rain to hurricanes and heat waves. For too long, our communities have gone without the necessary investment of resources, leaving them overburdened by high energy costs. This program brings real relief to working families by making their homes healthier and more affordable.”

Moore is a native of LaGrange and a 1989 graduate of Troup High School. She’s the author of “Rural Renaissance” and a former White House official. She is a relentless agent for change. Her accomplishments range from cutting the government’s energy bill by $11 billion and deploying 3.2 Gigawatts of new renewable energy during the Obama Administration. She serves as the board secretary for the Interdenominational Theological Center. Her work is rooted in her faith and the commandment “to love your neighbor as yourself.”

She explains that this Community Change grant will fund 10 community resilience hubs, turning trusted local gathering places into safe, reliable spaces where people can go when the lights go out and they lose power at home.

“This isn’t just about homes,” Moore adds. “It’s about local business growth and workforce development. The program will create new opportunities for small businesses and local workers in energy and home efficiency. This program is a coalition effort with local cities and community-based organizations working together to ensure that every dollar is used to protect, strengthen and empower our people.”

Moore said that this effort can set a national example. “By proving how these investments can work in rural communities, we hope to inspire more programs like this across the country,” she said. “This is more than just about today. By increasing energy efficiency and resilience, we’re building a stronger, safer and more affordable future for our children and grandchildren and our entire community.”

A 501(c)3 nonprofit, Groundswell builds community power through community solar projects, clean energy programs that reduce energy burdens and pioneering research initiatives that help light the way to clean energy programs and projects that have provided hardworking households with millions of dollars in energy savings. Groundswell’s goal is for people to benefit from a clean energy economy that serves everyone with a supply chain that generates wealth, work and savings for the communities it serves. Groundswell officials are looking at having a town hall-style meeting where local people can ask questions on how the federal Community Change grant can benefit them. The basic qualifications are for the home you live in to be in your name and to have a household income of less than $72,000.

Five mayors were present at Friday’s kickoff meeting. They included the host mayor, Jamie Heard of Lanett, Steve Tramell of West Point, Leonard Riley of Valley, Kenneth Vines of LaFayette and Tony Haywood of Tuskegee.

“We need to help our seniors save on their utility bills,” Mayor Heard said. “This need has been expressed to me as long as I have been in office. I am hopeful that this Groundswell grant can help us do that. I can understand how home repairs can help people’s homes be more energy efficient. We welcome efforts to do this.”

Mayor Riley said this kind of program can help seniors in Valley as well. “We need to do what we can to help our seniors,” he said. “It’s important for their homes to be energy efficient. This will help them save on their heating bills in the winter and on their cooling bills in the summer.”

Riley added that it pains him to see homes in the historic mill villages have to come down because they haven’t been properly maintained over the years. “The key to any home is its foundation,” he said. “Once it’s gone, the house has to come down. By then it’s just too expensive to try to save it. Over the years we have had to bring down hundreds of houses in the local area because their foundations are gone.”