Elderly Man John Allen Gets Help Winterizing Home

ATLANTA, Ga. - With temperatures dipping below freezing this week, winterizing your home couldn't come at a more perfect time. That's what Atlanta Gas Light is focusing on, especially among the city's senior citizens who are without heat.

Workers from Resource Services Ministries, with help from Atlanta Gas Light, helped 86-year-old John Allen by winterizing his home. His 43-year-old house had no insulation.

Allen qualified for assistance from Atlanta Gas Light. Allen's heater had been out for a year and he was using three space heaters in an attempt to heat his home. Workers were there to fix his heater and insulate his walls and attic.

"Makes a tremendous difference," says Michael Kinsey of Resource Services Ministries. "Because what it does it keeps the heat down inside the house where it needs to be. Without the insulation, the heat just rises up into the attic and you are heating the outdoors."

Tami Gerke of Atlanta Gas Light says Allen had no insulation in his walls or his attic, and his fuace wasn’t working.

”He makes $464 a month and his electric bill was $93 because of running the space heaters," said Gerke.

Weather stripping was also added to Allen’s doors because the cold air was coming through the cracks.