Nonprofit kicks off program to combat the cold in Middleboro homes
Volunteers construct wooden-framed window inserts that will be installed in 10 Middleboro homes as part of a new winter heating assistance program. Photos source: Sustainable Middleboro
A Middleboro High School student constructs a window insert in the high school's Innovation Lab. Photo by Tony Chiuppi.
The window frames are all custom-fit to the households they will be installed in. 
The window frames are expected to last up to five years, Kimberly French said, and they are designed so they don't damage resident's households.
Volunteers construct wooden-framed window inserts that will be installed in 10 Middleboro homes as part of a new winter heating assistance program. Photos source: Sustainable Middleboro
A Middleboro High School student constructs a window insert in the high school's Innovation Lab. Photo by Tony Chiuppi.
The window frames are all custom-fit to the households they will be installed in.
The window frames are expected to last up to five years, Kimberly French said, and they are designed so they don't damage resident's households.
MIDDLEBORO — Ten middleboro households will be testing out a new winter heating pilot program aimed to help seniors and low-income households in town reduce their heating bill.
Sustainable Middleboro is a volunteer-run nonprofit that focuses on winter heating assistance, outreach and education. With the help of Middleboro High School students and area organizations, the nonprofit has constructed window frames to be freely installed in Middleboro homes struggling with keeping their households warm.
Kimberly French, the nonprofit's board president, said the group took notes from a Maine-based nonprofit, Window Dressers, to kick off the program.
“They found that these inserts could really make a huge difference on the indoor temperature of people's homes, as well as how much they spend on heat,” French said. “So we said, let's try a pilot, and see if we can make them.”
She said Sustainable Middleboro mainly focuses on energy efficiency, especially in helping low and moderate income households find ways that they can use less energy and save money on their utility bills.
The nonprofit is partnering with the Sacred Heart Food Pantry, the Middleboro Council on Aging and students of Middleboro High School’s Innovation Lab, the school’s dedicated engineering classroom.
The nonprofit held a sign-up process where constituents of the food pantry and Council on Aging were selected to test out how the overall implementation works in weatherizing households.
French said their team will soon begin installing the windows in the 10 households. Recently, high school students lent a hand in constructing the custom-fitted wooden framed inserts at a volunteer event held at Town Hall. In the current phase, three window inserts — custom made to fit the dimensions of the involved households — will be installed in each of the homes.
French said although they might only be enough to cover windows in a single room, the 10 households will serve as a guide for the future of the project.
“The goal is to see if we can scale it up,” she said. “Can we get more partners? Can we really make an even bigger impact in our town and serve more people? Those are questions we will be looking at very closely.”
She said the frames are designed with foam to limit damage to window-frames, instead of drilling or gluing the frames in — so renters don’t have to worry about damaging their households. The frames are also expected to last up to five years.
She said testing will continue over December, and their board will decide next steps on how they might continue and scale up the project after they field feedback from households.
French said funding for the project has come from a handful of both individual donations and donations from the First Unitarian Universalist Church of Middleboro and one longtime Middleboro resident, Bob Phillips, who donated the wood for the frame’s construction.
