KTKA

Brooke Webb-Gennusa flips through her application to get help weatherizing her home. "I would not have known that this is available," she said.

Community Action received 1.8 million dollars in stimulus money to fix up local homes, but with that extra money comes an extra workload. "We've seen an increase in number of applications in our office, and that's pushed the wait out close to approximately 6 to 8 months at this point," Kelly Meerpohl with Community Action said.

Brooke was told it could be months before she hears from an inspector. "It would be 2 months, 60 days until somebody would be contacting me."

She points out areas she hopes can be fixed, but just two weeks ago she didn't know it was possible because she is a renter. "If my landlord would not have brought me the application I would not have known anything about it."

Meerpohl says it's not the home they want to improve it's the budget of the person. "The reason the program allows renters to be part of the program is that they are working to benefit everybody." But trying to help everybody with a limited staff, could take a while.

There is only one certified inspector at Community Action and three more in training. So for applications coming in now, like Brooke's, it could be next year before any work is done.

For Brooke it's worth the wait. "These are definitely things that help my budget in the long run," she said.

A budget she holds tight being a full time college student and single mom.

Community action weatherizes homes year round. Even though applications coming in now can't be addressed until at least March, the group still wants people to apply.

To see if you qualify or to find out what you need to do click here: Community Action