Photo: Sean Meagher/The Oregonian
Under the $16 million Cooling Portland program, low income and vulnerable city residents can now get a free portable air conditioner or heat pump and cooling unit combo. Households must earn 60% or less of the area median income - about $71,000 annually for a family of four or $50,000 for a single individual. The program, which prioritizes people over the age of 60 as well as those with medical needs or who live alone, partners with a dozen nonprofit groups and housing providers. It plans to install cooling units in up to 3,000 eligible homes and apartments by year end. Since the program launched in June 2022, a year after a catastrophic heat wave killed 69 people in Oregon’s Multnomah County, more than 8,400 cooling units have been installed across Portland free of charge. City officials aim to distribute a total of 15,000 by the end of 2026.
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