Local governments to assist poor without heat

By TOM KANE

SULLIVAN & WAYNE COUNTIES — The governments of Sullivan County in New York and Wayne County in Pennsylvania are offering assistance to poor residents in purchasing home heating oil during the frigid weather.

In Sullivan County, residents can apply for financial assistance through a federally funded program called Home Energy Assistance Program (HEAP). For information, call the Health and Family Services unit at 845-292-0100, ext. 2302. Residents must meet eligibility criteria based on income and resources.

Sullivan County residents can also apply for financial assistance through NYSEG Power Partner Program. Eligibility is based on income, past due electricity bills or participation in HEAP, WIC, Head Start, Food Stamps or reduced lunch program. Call 1-800/284-7988.

“The county legislature wants residents to know that when it comes to home heating and energy bills this winter, with a little planning and care, there is no need for them to feel left out in the cold,” said Lee Boscoe, Sullivan County Director of Communications.

The program in Wayne County is called the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP). The county offers two programs: one called the cash program, and the second called the crisis program.

Under the cash program, money for oil is doled out on a sliding scale, determined by the number of people in a residence and the income of the residents.

Under the crisis program, “we’ll offer a total of $400 per season to residents who are absolutely out of oil,” said Albert Lipperini, executive director of the Pennsylvania Department of Welfare’s Wayne County Assistance Agency.

The cash program will end on January 31 and the crisis program ends on March 15, he said.

For more information, residents should call 570/253-7100.