Ecolibrium3

Ecolibrium3 is a lincoln park based nonprofit organization with a mission to lead and inspire change in our community toward an equitable and sustainable future. We accomplish this mission through three areas of focus. The first is serving as the neighborhood convening organization in duluth's low-income lincoln park neighborhood, working on all aspects of sustainable revitalization that advances opportunities for residents and businesses. The second is a focus on community resilience including aspects of energy transition, housing stock improvement, economic security, and health. The third is our americorps vista program that builds capacity towards poverty eradication throughout the region. Ecolibrium3's core competencies include innovation, integration, and inspiration. We excel at understanding the high level challenges and then designing and implementing programs, partnerships, and projects that address those issues. Ecolibrium3's flagship program is eco3 energy. This is a nationally recognized, innovative residential energy efficiency program that was designed around helping households overcome the barriers that create a very low conversion rate from energy audits to completed energy improvements. Eco3 energy has achieved a conversion rate of 65% by coordinating audits, counseling on recommendations, bundling financial incentives, assisting in contracting, conducting quality assurance and raising funds for grants to households. Eco3 maintains an equipment lending library for contractors and homeowners, offered scholarships for contractor energy training, has helped save over 1000 participating households more than $600 per year on energy costs, and are reducing carbon footprints. In 2016, with a lack of contractor availability, Ecolibrium3 launched a new volunteer-based program to assist low-income, elderly, disabled, and/or veteran households complete energy improvements which was further expanded to reach low-income households in northeastern Minnesota in 2017. The deep program received the us epa climate showcase communities seeds of change award in 2013. Our energy work has extended to completion of duluth's first low-income solar garden at the entrance to lincoln park and ongoing energy resilience and transition efforts.when disaster struck the region in june of 2012, flooding seven counties, Ecolibrium3 applied the processes and capacity of the eco3 program to disaster and reconstruction management for low-income flood victims in the city of duluth and surrounding communities. Ecolibrium3 flood assistance included home inspections, development of scopes of work, providing bridge financing while households wait for disaster loans, grants for unmet needs, coordination between multiple agencies, and contract management and quality assurance for home rebuilding. Ecolibrium3 took on a leadership role in regional recovery through chairmanship of the regional long term recovery committee. All case management work and disaster recovery work was conducted in a manner to increase the energy efficiency of homes post-flood and to mitigate damage from future storms. Ecolibrium3 assisted 166 flood-affected households with energy efficient flood recovery and was recognized through the white house's champions of change program. Ecolibrium3 has taken our experience with disaster recovery and the impacts of climate change, and continued to lead the resilience conversation in duluth. In response to the covid-19 pandemic, eco3 again took on a community leadership role helping businesses and residents respond to the pandemic with food initiatives, broadband efforts, and a pay it forward ppe project that engaged over 1000 community volunteers to assemble face shields for frontline workers and distribute face masks to vulnerable community members. Our covid-19 work was recognized by main street america with their inaugural main street forward award in 2021.in addition to work on energy transition at a community-scale, Ecolibrium3 serves as a neighborhood-based community development organization, working specifically for the revitalization of the low-income lincoln park neighborhood. Our work included raising funds for play areas in the actual lincoln park, coordinating a process to envision activating green space throughout the neighborhood, neighborhood event development including a large open house to highlight businesses and organizations, and work to change the neighborhood narrative to reflect the energy and revitalization occuring. Ecolibrium3 has rebranded the neighborhood with #craftingsomethinggreat, held economic revitalization summits, and coordinates the specialized improvement area. In 2019 we formally launched the main street lnpk program to support small businesses in the commercial corridor which received formal main street recognition in 2021. Ecolibrium3 led a successful application to the us dot to redevelop the lincoln park section of w superior st. our final area of impact is our americorps vista program that helps organizations throughout the region build capacity to reduce or eliminate poverty. This program provides full-time community service volunteers to non-profit and governmental organizations to expand partnerships, improve services, and recruit and manage volunteers. The eco3 vista corps works across the community resilience framework by enhancing housing, economic development, community health, disaster preparedness, and environmental/social justice programs and projects.