Again this year, Duke Energy is offering its Helping Hand Program through SCCAP and other community action agencies to assist elderly and disabled low-income customers.

SCCAP will receive $50,700 this winter to assist these Duke Energy customers in our service area. Besides being a Duke Energy customer, clients must meet the state’s 150 percent of poverty guidelines and be over 60 years of age and/or disabled to receive assistance through these funds.

Not that this is much of a surprise, but the number of clients SCCAP has seen in its winter Energy Assistance Program that started on Oct. 5 is up significantly from the same time last year.

SCCAP has provided energy assistance benefits to 1,485 households in Brown, Monroe, Morgan and Owen counties since Oct. 5. That’s an increase of 16 percent, or 205 households, over the 1,280 households SCCAP had served at the same point last year.

The fastest rate of change has come in Morgan County, which has served 383 households in the energy assistance program so far, compared to 211 at the same point last year. That’s an increase of 82 percent.

SCCAP has provided $736,393.20 in benefits through the Energy Assistance Program, as of yesterday, out of a total of $3.68 million it has available for this winter’s program. The program will continue through March 15.

For those who’d like more information about the Energy Assistance Program or to schedule an appointment to apply for assistance, here is the contact information: 

Monroe County – 339-3447, Morgan County – 342-1518, Owen County – 829-2279, Brown County – 988-6636.

In an effort to keep people who are interested in the South Central Community Action Program updated on the agency’s latest news, we’ve started providing some notes from the Central Staff meeting that’s held every other Tuesday. Here are this week’s updates:

• Indiana is the only state in the country that hasn’t yet had its plan for use of additional Community Services Block Grant funds from the Recovery Act approved by the federal government. It appears that once the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services approves the plan from the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority, SCCAP will receive about $647,000 in additional CSBG funds to serve people in poverty.
• SCCAP’s offices in Bloomington, Martinsville, Nashville and Spencer have been extremely busy with people seeking energy assistance and with people who have moved to the top of our Section 8 wait list and are in the process of being approved to receive their vouchers for housing subsidies. The staff members working in those programs are doing their best to help people as quickly as they can, but applicants are still having to wait in line for service because so many people are needing help. SCCAP has served 1,208 people through its Energy Assistance Program since its winter program began on Oct. 1. Energy Assistance Program Coordinator Mary Zimmerman described it as a very busy, very stressful time for those working in the EAP program.
• The Weatherization Program completed its first job with Recovery Act funding Monday in Bloomington (hopefully, we’ll have photos of that home here in the next day or two). SCCAP currently has about 40 Recovery Act weatherization jobs underway in Monroe County. The agency needs to have energy efficiency improvements completed in 45 homes by the end of November to keep pace with its goals for this funding source.
• SCCAP Head Start is purchasing a much-needed new play structure at its Lakeview site with about $11,000 in new grant funding. Head Start is also about to start the process of hiring employees for its upcoming program expansion with Recovery Act funds. We’ll have more information about that on Inside SCCAP soon. We’ll also have a story about Abbey Bonner, who has been hired as coordinator of SCCAP’s new Fatherhood Initiative.   
• The Circles Initiative staff recently did its first Bridges Out of Poverty training at the Volunteers in Medicine Clinic. This training demonstrates the challenges that those from generational poverty face in moving out of poverty. By understanding these challenges and learning to suspend the judgments that often accompany interactions with people of a different economic class, participants can become partners in paving the way to economic stability that benefits low-income people, their own organizations and the entire community.  SCCAP is looking to provide this training to other organizations and businesses.
• The Culture Committee will have an agency book sale on Nov. 2 and a Thanksgiving luncheon on Nov. 16 with employees invited to participate in both events. You can start bringing books to trade in the book sale to Kate Scales office now. The Thanksgiving luncheon will involve SCCAP providing turkey and employees bringing side dishes with a contest for the best one.

It’s not hard to see that these are difficult times from looking at the throngs of people seeking help with their home heating bills every day at the South Central Community Action Program.

In the first two weeks of this winter’s Energy Assistance Program, SCCAP has served 1,073 households with heating assistance and 307 households with crisis assistance. We appear to be seeing clients at a faster pace than last year when we saw about a 10 percent increase in clients from the previous year.  

Kudos to all of the staff who serve clients in the Energy Assistance Program! We know that you’ve been very busy and working extremely hard to help as many people as quickly as you can, especially with the early cold weather we’ve been experiencing.  

For those who’d like more information about the Energy Assistance Program or to schedule an appointment to apply for assistance, here is the contact information: 

Monroe County – 339-3447, Morgan County – 342-1518, Owen County – 829-2279, Brown County – 988-6636.

Futures and Commodity News: Get help with heating bills: Those who meet eligibility guidelines can apply beginning today

World Socialist Web Site: US states face record demand for home heating assistance and Common Man News: US states face record demand for home heating assistance

Treehugger.com: Indiana faces delay in getting weatherization funds

Indiana Economic Digest: Head Start kids in Monroe County benefit from stimulus funds

Here are a few recent stories that are about SCCAP programs or mention SCCAP in more traditional places:

Community Action eNews: War on Poverty still being fought in places like Bloomington (scroll about halfway down the page).

WFHB Firehouse Broadcasting: The South Central Community Action Program and Monroe County United Ministries celebrate the 45th anniversary of the signing of the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964.

Indiana Daily Student: Stimulus Money Pumped into Head Start Program

Indianapolis Star: Feds leave state out in the cold

Check out Todd’s interview today about SCCAP’s Energy Assistance Program by clicking here.

Begin taking applications for energy assistance on October 5. They now have a Burmese-speaking volunteer.

October 10 Energy Fair at Andorfer Commons on the IIT campus (1600 E. Washington Blvd.) She can email a flyer. The fair will run from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM. It is open to the public and will provide information for homeowners on ways to save energy this winter. Social service agencies will give out information on public assistance with energy bills. There will be hourly door prizes and free food.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 includes funding for Northern Kentucky Community Action Commission to weatherize an additional 200 homes this year.  Weatherization helps families save money on their energy bills by air infiltrates leaks and increasing energy efficiency of appliances and heating systems. On average, a family can expect to save from 25-35 percent on their energy bills when their house is fully weatherized. 

Families with an income below a certain threshhold are eligible (about $44,000 for a family of four) The application process takes about 20-30 minutes.  After approved, the weatherization evaluator will visit the home to determine the conservation measures that will provide the greatest benefit and schedule the home for the needed repairs. To schedule an appointment to complete an application, call one of NKCAC’s neighborhood centers.

NKCAC plans to use a combination of staff and private contractors to weatherize homes with the ARRA funding.  In addition, weatherization funds are often combined with other sources of funding to increase the amount of work that can be done on the home.  For example, Duke Energy provides funding for refrigerator testing (and replacements if needed) and Home Depot donates some of the materials used in the home repairs.

Oregon Helps is an online clearinghouse that takes you through a series of questions online to determine what services you or your loved one might be eligible for. The site’s services are available in multiple languages. Check it out here.
Services covered include:

Care to Share is a Washington County based assistance program that helps individuals with emergency food, energy assistance, rent support and more. Check out their website or see below for more details.

Financial Aid

Clients facing financial crisis may apply to a special fund Care To Share maintains.   Utility – When funds are available clients may request help on a limited basis if they are facing a shut-off.   Rent – One day a month (the 3rd Thursday of each month) qualified clients may call to request assistance with rent for the following month.   We do not provide: cash, bus tickets, transportation or costs, motel room rent, or medical costs.

Back to School

Each August, Care To Share provides backpacks filled with new school supplies for at-risk children attending Beaverton School District schools.  These supplies are distributed though the school administration.

Oregon Heat

Care To Share has been given a contract with Oregon Heat to provide assistance for PGE clients to receive assistance with gas, electricity, wood, pellets and oil.   Clients must call to set an appointment and to verify eligibility.

Water Grants

Care To Share provides water assistance to low income families facing shut-offs.   These funds come to us from three different sources.   We are thankful to Tualatin Valley Water District, Clean Water Services, and City of Beaverton Water.   Without these contributions we could not provide this much needed assistance.

We’ve been talking about climate change legislation on our blog for some time. Now we are seeing real movement on this issue at the federal level. The American Clean Energy and Security Act (H.R. 2454) took a huge step forward on June 26th when it passed the U.S. House of Representatives. This important climate legislation impacts low-income households in many ways, but perhaps most significantly in that it provides a starting point for addressing serious climate change issues - like pollution and extreme weather – that disproportionately effect vulnerable, low-income communities.

A major element of the legislation is that it institutes a cap-and-trade system which will set a limit on the amount of greenhouse gases that businesses are allowed to emit, creating emissions allowances. The bill uses revenues from the sale of 15 percent of the emissions allowances to directly reimburse lowest-income households for their increased expenses as prices for energy and energy-intensive goods are expected to rise.

This relief would be provided on a monthly basis to the lowest-income 20 percent of the population, or roughly those below 150 percent of the poverty line, through an existing mechanism known as an Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT). A small amount of additional relief is provided through an expansion of the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) for low-income workers without children, a group that is difficult to reach through the EBT system. You can learn more about how low-income households would benefit from the bill in a new report from the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, “How Low-Income Consumers Fare in the House Climate Bill.”

There are many elements of the current legislation that are strong positives for low-income communities. This act will make strides in cleaning up the air to create healthier low-income communities, and it will do so without harm to the budgets of the lowest-income households. It also provides for new economic opportunities such as green jobs and increased funds for weatherization programs.

There are many vocal opponents of this legislation, so it is important that the Minnesota members of Congress that voted for H.R. 2454 (Reps. Ellison, McCullum, Oberstar, Peterson and Walz) hear from low-income advocates thanking them for their support. Find out more about how to contact your representative and please call today.

However, as action on the bill shifts to the U.S. Senate, there are some elements of the bill that we believe can be improved:

• Consumer relief in the House bill phases out completely at 160 percent of the poverty line (about $35,000 for a family of four). We urge the Senate to extend relief to all moderate-income families.
• In the House bill, relief is provided based on what the Energy Department calculates as a household’s average reduction in purchasing power. Given the high heating costs in our state, some Minnesota families will face higher than average reduction in purchasing power if energy costs increase. Funds should be allocated to the existing Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) which provides assistance to low-income consumers who face utility shut-offs or other hardships.

You can learn more about our position on how to improve the bill in the Senate by reading “American Clean Energy and Security Act: Impact on Low- and Moderate-Income Minnesotans.” The Senate is expected to take action on this bill in September.

-Leah Gardner

Energy Assistance Program Coordinator Mary Zimmerman did a great job yesterday in talking to Channel 6 about the need for the fans the station donated to SCCAP. You can check out the news broadcast with Mary’s comments at this link at the IndyChannel.com.

Here’s what Mary had to say to the WRTV viewers who donated money to buy the fans:

“I wish that they could see the families that they help because it’s terrible that some can get teary-eyed for a fan. But we have that happen because they really do need this assistance and they are so grateful for that help.”

Thanks to WRTV 6, the South Central Community Action Program will be able to provide fans to 50 clients who are elderly, disabled or have children five and under.

The fans will make the summer safer and more comfortable for those who receieve them. They will be distributed on a first-come, first-served basis to clients who have been served in other SCCAP programs. There is a limit of one fan per household.

SCCAP Energy Assistance Program Coordinator Mary Zimmerman and Maintenance/Property Manager Edward Pate went to Home Depot in Greenwood Wednesday to pick up the fans, which were purchased with money donated by WRTV 6 viewers.

WRTV 6 has been donating fans to community action agencies across the state for many years. This year, it donated 650 fans statewide. We deeply appreciate this support for our clients.

SCCAP’s office in Spencer was up and running without any major hitches Monday in its first day in its new location at 145 N. Harrison Street.

Clients seemed to have little trouble finding their way to the new location, according to SCCAP staff, on the first day of the Summer Cool Program.

The Owen County office was closed Thursday and Friday as it was moved from its old location on Franklin Street in Spencer.

Today was the first day that clients could submit applications for this year’s Summer Cool Program.

That, as expected, made for a busy day for the Energy Assistance staff at SCCAP’s offices in Brown, Monroe, Morgan and Owen counties. The Bloomington office, for instance, received more than 100 applications Monday.

Last year, SCCAP provided assistance with summer electric bills to 2,116 low-income households.

Over the next couple of days, we’ll provide reports here on Thursday’s public hearings at the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority to discuss our state’s plans for use of Weatherization and Community Service Block Grant stimulus funds.  

Provided below are some of the highlights of today’s testimony from Indiana Community Action representatives regarding the state’s plan for allocating about $55 million in Weatherization stimulus funds to be used by 30 organizations over the next program year to create jobs, lower monthly heating and electric bills for low-income families, help reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil and cut carbon emissions.

Just after hearing the comments below in a public hearing, the IHCDA board quickly passed the state plan with few questions and little discussion from the board members. The next step for Indiana’s plan is for it to be reviewed by the U.S. Department of Energy.      

Selected highlights of testimony from Todd Lare, South Central Community Action Program, located in Bloomington, serving Brown, Monroe, Morgan and Owen counties:

“My organization has been granted funding for only 1 of the 4 county region we traditionally serve.  Indeed, we have only been proposed to be awarded $899,373 of the $2,613,105 originally advertised for our region, or 34.4% of what has been requested.  The 24 current sub grantees requested $56,294,639 and were awarded $23,754,250, or 42% of the funding available.  Newly proposed sub grantees requested $61,267,405 and were awarded $31,260,370.50 or 51% of the amount they requested.  Newly proposed sub grantees were awarded 57% of the $55,014,620.50 awarded during this first cycle.  That for just 10 new sub grantees.  The other 24 collectively received less funding than the newly chosen 10 sub grantees.

Two new sub grantees received the largest amount awarded to any sub grantee, new or existing.  The Indiana Builders Association received $20,725,963.50 or 38% of the entire amount awarded.  This award is made to an organization whose annual revenue in 2007 was $1,404,341 according to their 990 tax return.  In 2006, they had gross receipts of $1,264,077 and in 2005 they reported $1,196,835.  So, the decision was made to award the largest amount to an inexperienced provider in these programs, the largest amount totaling 15 times their annual revenue for the year 2007.  This, to an organization whose primary mission is “the education of construction and home building industry by conducting conventions and seminars using resources by members” according to that tax return. 

The second largest new sub grantee, Hoosier Energy, received $5,094,541 or 9% of the funding made available.  This organization is much larger, boasting a 2008 total revenue of $566 million and total assets of $1.2 billion.  While this is remarkable, it seems wild that an organization of this immense size would compete with local nonprofits that have been operating these programs for more than 30 years, yet would have so little staff trained in this process.  It is my understanding that collectively, Hoosier Energy has had 3 staff members trained in DOE weatherization prior to this process. 

In my four-county region, the Indiana Builders Association was awarded Owen County while Hoosier Energy was awarded Morgan and Brown counties.  Title 10, Section 440.15 of the Code of Federal Regulations requires that “The subgrantee’s experience in assisting low-income persons in the area to be served” be used in the approval criteria.  I would question the experience of both entities in providing weatherization services to residents of these counties.  There is no Indiana Builders Association presence in Owen County, as they are served out of the Monroe County office. Our organization does maintain an office in Spencer and has served the area in this program for decades.  In Morgan and Brown counties, while a member of the Hoosier Energy association, a rural electric cooperative maintains a presence in Morgan County and also serves Brown County, I am unaware of any other local presence or connection to the low-income community.  Our organization maintains offices in both Martinsville and Nashville and has operated a variety of low-income programs in this area for more than 40 years.

Finally, the selection criteria found in 10 CFR, Part 440.15 gives clear preference to those who are currently operating weatherization programs.  It states, “In selecting a sub grantee, preference is given to any CAA or other public or nonprofit entity which has, or is currently administering, an effective program under this part or under title II of the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964, with program effectiveness evaluated by consideration of factors including, but not necessarily limited to, the following:

• The extent to which the past or current program achieved or is achieving weatherization goals in a timely fashion;
• The quality of work performed by the sub grantee;
• The number, qualifications, and experience of the staff members of the sub grantee; and
• The ability of the sub grantee to secure volunteers, training participants, public service employment workers, and other Federal or State training programs.”

I believe that Indiana’s selection process does not abide by these expectations given the fact that one NEW provider is given more money than most of the other 24 current sub grantees combined.  We attempted to determine the criteria used in scoring the proposals and to obtain a copy of all proposals submitted so that we could testify on them at this hearing.  The public records request was submitted by the Indiana Community Action Association on May 19, 2009.  The Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority (IHCDA) has responded that additional communications may be received on or before May 29, conveniently one day after this public hearing.  Scoring criteria has been added to the IHCDA website in the last few days, and that had not previously been made available.  With the lack of individual scores, however, this information is useless, other than to show that experience in operating this program was a low consideration.  That is born out by the fact that 4 existing providers received no funding, 3 existing providers received what they asked for and most of the rest received somewhere between 30 and 50% of the funding available and requested.    I would ask the Department of Energy to deeply scrutinize the scoring of these applications and reject this seemingly flawed process.

Two new potential grantees were awarded funding despite the fact that they are non-Indiana companies.  People Working Cooperatively is a Cincinnati, OH based organization with no local ties and experience working in the territory assigned to them while the existing sub grantee was given no funding.  This Ohio Company, a newly proposed sub grantee was given nearly $2 million of stimulus funding meant for Indiana.  The second company, Wisconsin Energy Conservation Corporation is based in Madison, Wisconsin.  They were given more than $1 million for work in Marion County and the existing sub grantee was given zero funding.  Page 4-3 of the original RFP issued by IHCDA stated that businesses must be incorporated and located in the State of Indiana.  While both are licensed to do business in Indiana, neither is corporately based in Indiana, and are listed as foreign corporations with the Indiana Secretary of State.  While the Wisconsin company does have a physical presence in Indiana, I do not believe that People Working Cooperatively does.  Awarding funding to non-Indiana companies flies in the face of the intended purpose of this funding and does not align with other policies to buy Indiana supported by the administration, especially when existing providers have been provided no funding in areas they have served for years, and are currently serving using regular DOE funding.

One has to assume that existing sub grantees are performing adequately if they were fully funded beginning April 1, 2009 under the non-ARRA DOE grant and were not on a performance improvement plan (PIP) through the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority.  Our agency was funded during the current DOE grant cycle, closed out the prior DOE funding cycle having spent more than 99% of the funding awarded, and we are not now, nor have we ever been under a PIP for weatherization services.  So, today I am left to draw on the only conclusion left, that this selection process was flawed, deeply political and should be rejected by the Department of Energy regulators upon submission.  This fact can only be born out by the delivery of all relevant records requested under Indiana public access laws and by deep scrutiny by the federal department.

I believe the process followed during the past several months has been much less than transparent and the planning far short of inclusive.  The RFP issued did not detail how proposals would be scored and how existing providers would be given preference, as required by DOE regulations.  Instead of working together to determine the best plan for accomplishing the goals set forth on the national level, we have had to try to guess how to be in the best position to move quickly if selected.  If existing providers were used, we could have been a lot further along in the joint planning process and would have, at the very least, been able to talk through the points I have made during my public testimony. 

Nonetheless, I thank you for the opportunity to provide this testimony today and would ask that it be included in its entirety in the public comment forwarded to the Department of Energy for consideration with the Indiana state plan, though I would urge the Department of Energy to reject Indiana’s initial submission due to the problems noted earlier in my presentation.”

Selected highlights of testimony from Larry Kleeman, executive director of Lincoln Hills Development Corporation, a community action agency located in Tell City, serving Crawford, Perry and Spencer counties:

“The proposed plan eliminates Spencer County from our service area. The request for proposal issued by IHCDA allocated funds for Crawford County in the amount of a little over $380,000, Perry County a little bit over $768,000 and Spencer County a little over $380,000. Lincoln Hills Development Corporation has served these three counties as a community action agency since 1965, including Weatherization since 1976. We responded to the request for proposal with a proposal requesting the full amount of $1.5 million allocated for these three counties. We’re included in the proposed state plan with an award of a little over $971,000 to serve Crawford and Perry counties only. . .

Why was Spencer County removed from our service area and awarded to Hoosier Energy? We believe this decision is contrary to Department of Energy regulations and policies for the following reasons: The PRISM results for Spencer County for the period of April 1, 2006 through March 31, 2007 reflect that of the six homes weatherized in which pre- and post-data was gathered, one house saved 29 therms of energy, one house reduced natural gas usage by 35 percent and one house reduced electric usage by 25 percent. Data on the other three homes was difficult to obtain and analyze due to various reasons. However on 50 percent of the homes measured, where the data was sufficient and analyzed, there were savings achieved through weatherization.    

To the best of my knowledge, Hoosier Energy has never Weatherized a home in Spencer County, but if they have, what are the results and was this the basis for awarding Spencer County to Hoosier Energy rather than us?  

Finally, LHDC has served Spencer County continuously for 44 years, including since 1976 in Weatherization. One-third of our local board of directors are residents and represent Spencer County. We have facilities located in Rockport, the county seat, and Dale, while to the best of my knowledge, Hoosier Energy has no local offices in Spencer County. During this past energy assistance season, we served 542 households in Spencer County and of those households, only 98, or 18 percent, were customers of Hoosier Energy. Hoosier Energy does not serve the cities and towns of Chrisney, Dale, Grandview, Rockport and Santa Claus in Spencer County. With such a limited presence in the county, what was the rationale for Indiana Housing to award Spencer County to Hoosier Energy?”  

Selected highlights of testimony from Kathryn Williams, Indiana Community Action Association:

“The Indiana Community Action Association represents the 24 Community Action Agencies that provide services in all 92 Indiana counties.  These services include the Low-Income Weatherization Assistance Program.

All 24 Community Action Agencies have responded to the Request for Proposals for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) Weatherization funds. Twenty of the Community Action Agencies were selected for funding.  Forty-four percent of the ARRA funds were allocated in the state plan to Community Action Agencies and 56 percent of the funds were allocated to organizations that are not within the Community Action Agency network. 

The Community Action Agency network within Indiana has operated the Low-Income Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP) since its inception.  The Indiana program is held in high regard by the U. S. Department of Energy and by other programs around the country.  Indiana is consistently viewed as the exemplary model by other states wanting to design training programs, look at the value of certification of employee skills, determine the feasibility of conducting PRISM evaluation of homes weatherized, and to employ many other positive aspects of Indiana’s program.  The Community Action network has worked closely with the Indiana agency that has been the funding channel for this program, with a focus on developing and delivering a program of which we all can be proud.

“The U. S. Department of Energy regulations governing the ARRA Weatherization Assistance Program provide guidance to states on priorities to be considered when allocating these funds.  These regulations state that all funding used to conduct weatherization activities must be distributed by states to entities in accordance with the federal WAP statute and regulations governing selection of subgrantees.  These subgrantees must be Community Action Agencies(CAA) or other public or nonprofit entities.  In selecting a subgrantee, preference must be given to any CAA or other public or nonprofit entity which has, or is currently administering, an effective program under this part or under title II of the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 [Community Action Program], with program effectiveness evaluated by consideration of factors including the following:

• The extent to which the past or current program achieved or is achieving weatherization goals in a timely fashion;
• The quality of work performed by the subgrantee;
• The number, qualifications, and experience of the staff members of the subgrantee; and
• The ability of the subgrantee to secure volunteers, training participants, public service employment workers, and other federal or state training programs.

The final selection of each subgrantee must be made on the basis of public comment received during the public hearing and findings regarding:

• The subgrantee’s experience and performance in weatherization or housing renovation activities; 
• The subgrantee’s experience in assisting low-income persons in the area to be served; and
• The subgrantee’s capacity to undertake a timely and effective weatherization program.

The allocation of funds by IHCDA appears to be inconsistent with these regulations which require a preference for Indiana CAAs who already administer an effective and respected weatherization program, and who clearly possess experience performing weatherization activities and assisting low-income persons in the areas to be served. We encourage IHCDA and the U. S. Department of Energy to give this disparity serious scrutiny.”

We just sent out a news release this morning about SCCAP’s Summer Cool Program that starts next Monday, June 1.

One thing I added to this release from the post I made on Inside SCCAP last week about the Summer Cool Program is some information about the energy conservation kit that households can receive in addition to assistance with their electric bill.

Once approved for the Summer Cool Program, a member of each household can receive information about how to conserve energy and a conservation kit that contains three compact fluorescent light bulbs and a furnace filter whistle that tells you when your filter is dirty and needs to be changed.

The retail value of the energy conservation kit, which is provided to approved households at no cost, is about $25. Each household can only receive one kit per year, so if you already received one this winter, you can’t get another one this summer.

For more information or an appointment, contact an SCCAP office: Monroe County, 339-3447; Morgan County, 342-1518; Owen County, 829-2279; Brown County, 988-6636.

Help with summer electric bills is on the way for low-income households in Monroe, Brown, Morgan and Owen counties. 

The Summer Cool Program offered by the South Central Community Action Program will run from June 1 through Aug. 31. It will assist eligible low-income households by providing $50 toward their electric bill.

This summer assistance is part of a broader Energy Assistance Program that also includes help with fuel bills during the winter. For the winter program that just ended, SCCAP assisted 5,209 households, a 15 percent increase from the previous winter.   

All households who received Energy Assistance from SCCAP during the past winter are eligible for the $50 electric credit in the Summer Cool program. All other households must complete an application and have their income verified.

Once approved for the Summer Cool program, a member of each household can also watch a short presentation on how to conserve energy and receive at no cost a conservation kit that contains three compact fluorescent light bulbs and a furnace filter whistle that tells you when your filter is dirty and needs to be changed. The retail value of the energy conservation kit, which is provided to approved households at no cost, is about $25.

In addition, a household where a family member has a severe medical condition may provide written verification from a medical doctor to receive a small window air conditioner. Clients should call the SCCAP office for details about the required documentation to claim this benefit.

SCCAP has provided energy benefits to low-income citizens for 27 years. Last year, 2,116 households received assistance through the Summer Cool Program.

Eligibility for the Summer Cool program is based on the number of people in the household and total household income: 1 person-$15,600, 2-$21,000, 3-$26,400, 4-$31,800, 5-$37,200. For each additional household member beyond five people, add $5,400.    

For more information or to schedule an appointment, contact the SCCAP office in your county: Monroe: 339-3447, Morgan: 342-1518, Owen: 829-2279, Brown: 988-6636.

The South Central Community Action Program served 5,207 households with its winter Energy Assistance Program that just ended.

This program provides help with heating bills to eligible low-income families. It also offers assistance with the purchase of bulk fuel to heat homes and crisis assistance to families who are in danger of utility disconnection or have no fuel.

The 2008-09 figure of 5,209 households who received assistance marks a 15 percent increase from the previous winter when SCCAP served 4,546 households. Of the 5,209, 1,508 were elderly and 1,287 had a head of household who is disabled.

This winter, we served 2,252 households in Monroe County, 1,471 in Morgan County, 987 in Owen County and 499 in Brown County through the Energy Assistance Program.

Clients can sign up for SCCAP’s Summer Cool Program starting on June 1. That program assists eligible low-income households by providing $50 toward their electric bill.

Last year, 2,116 households received assistance through the Summer Cool Program.

Next winter’s Energy Assistance Program will begin in October. If you have any low-income friends or family that may be eligible for this program, please help us by letting them know that assistance with heating costs is available through SCCAP.

It seems, sometimes, that the world just likes to taser us with a jolt of adrenalin.  Mine, as I have written about lately, usually comes in the mail as a highly inflated bill.  I shared some stories this week about my own personal “really high” bills, so I thought I would let you know the outcome of the latest one; the power/propane bill.

I never, ever, ever, in my life want to open a bill and see that I owe $1,200 ever again.  But, I have to tell you that this shows me how kind the world can be.  We phoned for energy assistance, expecting to be told, as we so often are, that we make just a smidgen too much to qualify.  At the best I would have been delighted to come out of it with $200 help for this bill.  Instead, we received a monthly stipend for the coming months and a large amount of help for this month.

In the lifetime of my family, father to daughters, I could count on one hand the assistance we have received.  My father’s mill was on strike once when my two daughters and I lived with my parents.  It was difficult for him to do but he applied for, and got some food stamps.  He would never have done it for just himself and my mom, but he wasn’t going to see these little girls without milk.

I have worked most of my life and supported my children, on my own, for much of it.  I’m not used to getting help and it was a hard thing to do.  When my husband became disabled, it was tough, even applying for reduced lunches for the boys was tough, but, it is so nice to know that there is help out there for you when times are tough.  You really feel a little less alone in the world.

The woman at the assistance office has referred us to another agency, and told us to call back at the end of March for their office, for assistance in upgrading this windy house.  The other night, I taped up the back door with (please don’t tell the post office) with Priority mail tape.  I could feel the wind blow through so bad from upstairs.  Of course, the dog then spent some time barking on the stairs because she thought someone, with the shape of an x on their face was trying to break in.  I had put an x on the window to warn EMT that the door was taped shut. 

Gee, is their assistance to get the dog glasses?

The Northern Kentucky Community Action Commission has received two grants totalling $36,775 from the Heat and Eat Fund of The Greater Cincinnati Foundation (GCF) to support emergency heat, rent and utility assistance for low-income residents in Boone, Campbell and Kenton Counties.

The GCF established the Heat and Eat Fund to encourage their donors and the larger community to make contributions in response to emergency needs within the region and to improve the quality of life in our community. The additional grant comes from the community’s overwhelming response to GCF’s challenge. The Carol Ann and Ralph V. Haile / US Bank Foundation provided $7,500 of the second allocation, specifically to support emergency response efforts in Northern Kentucky.

Northern Kentucky Community Action Commission provides help for families in crisis through our network of neighborhood centers in the eight Northern Kentucky counties.  Assistance may include food, utilities, rent or other assistance according to family needs and agency resources.  NKCAC uses a combination of government grants, private funding and donations from individuals to provide the assistance families experiencing a temporary financial crisis need. For information on donating to the agency’s crisis assistance fund, check our website.

Staff work with families to help them learn to save money and plan their spending to avoid future crisis situations.  In addition, the agency provides weatherization services to improve energy efficiency to lower utility bills, job training and job search assistance to increase opportunities for earning.