TRENTON, N.J. – New Jersey Department of Community Affairs (DCA) Commissioner Susan Bass Levin today awarded Check-Mate, Inc., located in Asbury Park, a total of $55,586 through DCA’s Low Income Home Energy Assistance-Weatherization Program.  The grant will help low-income residents make their homes more energy-efficient throughout Monmouth County, Check-Mate’s service area.

“This Administration is dedicated to providing all of New Jersey’s hardworking families with exceptional services and an improved quality of life,” Commissioner Levin said.  “By helping people reduce their heating bills through LIHEAP, we’re putting more money back into their pockets for life’s other necessities.”

Low-income families typically spend 14 percent of their annual income on energy, compared with 3.5 percent for other households, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.

DCA’s Weatherization Assistance Program provides income-qualified residents with services including on-site assessments of a home's energy consumption; and the installation of materials, such as insulation, to increase energy efficiency.  DCA’s Division of Community Resources contracts a network of local, community-based agencies that deliver weatherization services throughout the state. 

DCA also publishes a guide to frequently asked questions about weatherization, and information about resources available throughout the state.  The guide, entitled “All the Comforts of Home,” is available by calling the Weatherization Assistance Unit at 609-292-6140.

LIHEAP is a federally funded program administered jointly by the Department of Human Services and the Department of Community Affairs.  Households with incomes up to 175 percent of the federal poverty level are generally eligible for LIHEAP.  That amounts to annual income of $22,464 for a two-member household and $28,164 for a household of three.