The Climate Fund is helping babies be the most comfortable in their homes! Who would’ve thought!? Meet our 54th grant winners, the Green family! Pictured here is Claire and her dad (and landlord), Allen. Claire moved into a lovely downtown Ithaca apartment with her 2 year-old and husband at the beginning of the pandemic. They were so glad to return home to Ithaca after six years living on the West Coast. Allen wasn’t about to just replace this old fossil fuel machine with a new one. Equipped with knowledge from HeatSmart Tompkins (go, Jonathan Comstock!) he knew that Claire and her partner would income-qualify for the Finger Lakes Climate Fund and HeatSmart grants, as well as the state grants and utility rebates – even as tenants. Very cool! After a few contractors came by, they chose to work with NP Environmental. They were so pleased with their proposal and how much NP worked with them to create a plan that worked well for them. The Greens had a new air source heat pump system and heat pump water heater installed and couldn’t be happier today. They have been so thrilled with the low utility bills (even compared to cheap fracked gas) and the comfort in both warm and cold weather. Claire shared that the air conditioning was quite the surprising bonus, considering that she’d never had that in her home before. With a new baby in their family, Claire said the steady, consistent temperatures have been life-changing – “As a mom, that’s what you obsess over the most!” We were so glad to award the Green family $3,757 to help them install their new system and prevent 58.3 tons of CO2 from entering the atmosphere.