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.

On Saturday, January 7, 2011 at 10:00 a.m., La Casa de Esperanza will hold its “Fiesta de los Reyes Magos”—“Three Kings Day” event, a traditional and very special Hispanic Holiday Event for the community.

Three Kings Day signifies the day that the Three Wise Men followed the Star of Bethlehem and arrived with their gifts for the newborn king, Jesus.  Children from México, Puerto Rico and other Hispanic countries celebrate this joyous occasion by receiving gifts from the Three Kings.  La Casa will celebrate this day by providing over 1000 special gifts to families in need in Waukesha.

 Stay tuned for photos from this very special event!