After her husband passed away, Shirley Mettler had to step up to care for their family home by herself. Her grandfather built their Ithaca home in the 1960s, and she’s lived there for 48 years, working as a custodian in our local Ithaca School District. When her daughter encouraged her to upgrade from space heaters (extension cord trip hazards galore!) and a furnace that was missing in action, Shirley connected with Erica from the Energy Navigators of Get Your GreenBack Tompkins. Erica walked Shirley through every step, making her aware of available funding options and grants to have Snug Planet insulate her home and install a high efficiency heat pump. Shirley was so pleased to win a $1,437 Climate Fund grant towards the work scope along with a $2,000 HeatSmart incentive, preventing 57 tons of CO2 from being released into the atmosphere had she continued heating her home with space heaters.