Heating Assistance Enrollment Starts Monday

Staff members at local agencies are gearing up for heating assistance programs that open enrollment Monday.

A new tire, an unexpected prescription or missing a few days of work can put a family at risk of not making their next utility payment, said Peg Palmer, Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program coordinator at the Office for Human Concern in Rogers.

“There’s so many people who live paycheck to paycheck They could be on the street in a matter of days,” Palmer said.

The energy assistance program helps pay electricity and gas bills, fill empty propane tanks and buy firewood.

The program helps when medical bills pile up, especially right after Christmas, said Springdale resident Allison Hernandez. Just released from the hospital, Hernandez was told to stick to bedrest until her baby’s March due date. Without the program she would lose her housing, Hernandez said.

“I just put my hands in God’s and this is what he’s given me,” she said.

She has applied for the program before and carried a clipboard piled with the documentation needed for the program.

Applicants must bring a copy of the utility bill or shutoff notice, documentation on who lives in their household and either paycheck stubs from the previous month or unemployment records. If children are in the home but both biological parents are not, documentation from the Office of Child Support Enforcement is required, even if no child support has been paid or requested.

“You can’t fib to them,” Hernandez said.

Last year, the Office for Human Concern offered $414,690 in aid to 2,539 households during the winter energy assistance program. The Economic Opportunity Agency of Washington County gave out $640,750 in aid to 4,319 households. The Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program is federally funded and locally administered.

Arkansas has $22,067,120 in federal money available for the assistance program for this year.

This week, staff members at the two agencies that together serve Benton, Carroll, Madison and Washington counties opened 300 to 500 pre-applications a day from disabled and elderly clients. That numbers is about average, program administrators said. On the first day the regular winter assistance program is open to others, there is always a line when the agency offices open.

“We’ll see how big it’ll be Monday when we get to work,” Palmer said.

Three people will process applications at the Rogers office. Two interviewers will talk with 150 to 200 people a day at the Economic Opportunity Agency in Springdale, said Casey Beaver, operations manager. Some of last year’s applicants had lost jobs or had trouble finding work.

“There’s a lot of really sad cases out there,” Beaver said.

Most of the calls she took Thursday were from people looking for utility assistance, said Barbara Smith, United Way of Northwest Arkansas aid assistance administrator. The United Way supports local agencies, including the Salvation Army, and refers people to them through their 211 line.

A Salvation Army assistance program opened in December, said spokesman Dan Ashley. There was a slight increase in demand between December 2011 and December 2012, he said.

The regular winter energy assistance program opens Monday at the Office for Human Concern and the crisis program begins Feb. 4. Both the regular and crisis programs open Monday for Washington County.

People shouldn’t wait for the shut-off notice that qualifies them for the crisis energy program, Palmer said.

“They’re not taking it away from someone else if they come and apply,” she said.

State law prohibits electric and gas utilities from shutting off service if the National Weather Service forecasts a below freezing temperature within 24 hours.

The cold weather rule is good in theory, Palmer said, but it doesn’t keep heat on for people using propane, and bills can build up if winter weather holds.

“It’s much easier for the client to come up with $200 instead of $400,” Palmer said. “One nice day in the 40s and they’re out there shutting people off left and right.”

Clients can also apply for a weatherization program that audits homes for energy efficiency. That program has improved 45 homes since April, said Brenda Ruth, Arkansas Weatherization Program coordinator for Benton, Carroll, Madison and Washington counties.

To qualify for the weatherization program homeowners or renters must be at 200 percent of the poverty level. In March the local program will expand to serve people who are not rich, but don’t fall under the poverty guidelines, Ruth said. The program will pay a percentage of the needed improvements. Wait time for the program has decreased in the past year, but there are 129 households on the list now, she said.

According to Census Bureau data, 11.8 percent of Benton County residents and 18.9 percent of Washington County residents lived below poverty level from 2007 to 2011.