The Government Accountability Board shared with participants of the Voter ID Workshop their new website which features necessary and essential information for voting in 2012. The website is filled with resources to help voters assure they have proper identification, learn how to register, where their polling station is located among other vital information. Please go to the link below to learn more and see their website. Another workshop will be held in the next few months so check La Casa's website frequently for further details or "like" us on Facebook to get the most up-to-date information.

http://bringit.wisconsin.gov/

The Waukesha County Clerk's Office and the WI Government Accountability Board will be presenting a workshop on voting for the community. The workshop will be held on Wednesday, January 25th from 9:30 am - 11:00 am in the backroom of Cafe Esperanza. The workshop will provide basic information on the new voter id law, what information to bring to the polls and what to expect at the polling place. They will also bring a sample ballot and a polling machine. If interested in attending this FREE workshop, please register with Kelly Colgan at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 262-832-1507.

Martin Luther King Day will be celebrated next Monday, January 16th. In honor of this important day, Waukesha County created "Lead the Dream" Virtual Tour. La Casa's Clinica is featured in the video as one of the many organization's in Waukesha County that promotes Dr. King's philosophies in their every day work. The video will be unveled at  the Lead the Dream event. The event is a time to celebrate, recognize, and learn from the best practices of our business and community organizations in championing Dr. King's principles of justice/equal rights, service to others, and acceptance of diversity.

We're proud to be a part of this important project and luncheon! Watch the video to learn more about La Clinica and other great local organizations in Waukesha.

Click Here to Watch Video 

By This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ">Thomas Content of the Journal Sentinel

Jan. 6, 2012 | (54) Comments

Wisconsin has hit a milestone with the weatherization of 30,500 homes over the past three years, Energy Secretary Steven Chu said Friday.

“The average American spends $2,000 on energy used in the home; weatherization services lower energy bills,” Chu said. “On average families save more than $400 on heating and cooling bills during the first year after they are weatherized.”

Nationwide, nearly 750,000 homes have been weatherized over the past three years.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act provided $141.5 million for the Wisconsin weatherization initiative.

Of the 30,500 homes weatherized in Wisconsin, more than 21,600 were upgraded through the Recovery Act, surpassing the state’s goal of 20,600 homes by 1,000 homes, the Energy Department said.

The state ranks eighth in the nation in terms of the number of homes weatherized between 2009 and November 2011, the department said. Surpassing Wisconsin were Texas, California, New York, Ohio, Illinois, Michigan and Pennsylvania.

The state weatherization efforts supported 400 jobs for energy auditors and contractors, the department said.

U.S. Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-Madison), who joined Chu on a conference call, said the program was important to help reduce energy bills and create jobs for both contractors and vendors. Weatherization can help homeowners who have lost jobs in the recent recession, she said.

“Older homes often lack proper insulation and many of them have cost-ineffective heating systems, and weatherization is one of the very best and most productive ways to address these long-term problems,” she said.

Chu said all but about $5 million of the $141.5 million allocated to Wisconsin has been spent.

The milestone comes as Congress has allocated less funding for ongoing weatherization programs apart from the infusion of funds to weatherization from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

Some states haven’t spent their stimulus allocation, leading Congress to reduce funding. The result is Wisconsin will receive $6.5 million rather than $8 million this fiscal year for weatherizing low-income homes, said Bob Jones, executive director of the Wisconsin Community Action Program Association.

The state should be proud of its stimulus milestone, but more funding is needed because of the number of older homes and people living in poverty, he said.

“Even with those 30,000 units, it’s more than scratching the surface, but there are still plenty of units to weatherize,” Jones said.

Local weatherization initiatives in Milwaukee and Madison are continuing, as part of the Milwaukee Energy Efficiency program, or ME2, as well as Green Madison.

Those programs offer homeowners the chance to pay for home energy saving upgrades over time rather than upfront, through loans made available through a credit union. The goal of the program is for the cost of the loan to be less than the savings homeowners are seeing on their energy bills.