Home Energy Assistance Program coming to Healy Senior Center on July 6

Are you struggling to pay for your utilities? Home Energy Assistance Program (HEAP) can help. On Wednesday, July 6, at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. the Redwood Community Action Agency will provide outreach and intake services for three utility programs that benefit low-to-moderate income households:
HEAP
You may qualify for a once a year energy rebate on your PG&E bill, or with the purchase of firewood or propane.
CARE
RCAA staff can enroll eligible households in the CARE program, which provides 20% discount on your PG&E bill every month.
California Lifeline Telephone Service
You may qualify for a program that provides basic local home telephone service at half the cost of normal basic telephone rates.
Last year, HEAP was able to help 62 people with their energy bills. The majority of the recipients received help purchasing firewood or propane.
In 2010, HEAP’s budget for the entire county was $1.1 million. This amount was spent helping people who couldn’t pay their utility bills and were in danger of having their utilities shut off as well as buying firewood, propane and fuel oil for heating.
HEAP Administrator Val Martinez says that the allocation is part of the federal budget and comes to the state in the form of a block grant that is allocated among the counties and administered through the Redwood Community Action Agency. Any low-income household is eligible for the assistance and can apply anytime during the year. Once a year, the HEAP staff do a concentrated outreach to the outlying areas, visiting Hoopa and Willow Creek as well as Redway in an effort to make sure that rural households have access to the program. They also use part of the money to hire local contractors to do small weatherization and fix-up projects for low income home owners.
Martinez says that the program took a big cut last year. The $1.1 million figure is about half of their previous allocation and anticipates another 50% cut for next year.
Information to bring
You must bring all of the following required documentation. Bring a photocopy of these items in addition to the original, it will make this process much faster.
1. Your most current PG&E bill (all pages) and a shut off notice if you have one.
2. Your most current propane bill, even if you are not applying for propane.
3. Proof of your entire households’ June 2011 income, such as bank statements or award letters: whatever income was received in June 2011 by everyone in your household.
We cannot help people who do not bring the required documentation with them. No exceptions
Be on time
You can pre-register by calling 923-2399. The first group of thirty people will be helped at 10 a.m. sharp and the second group will be at 1 p.m. Once they begin at the above mentioned times, no one will be able to enter the group.
Please understand that RCAA will be making copies of the documentation -- this takes a long time and keeps everyone waiting. The process will go quicker and smoother if you bring your own photocopies.
In order to qualify, you must fall within these income guidelines:
No. in household Maximum income allowed:
1 $2,072.28
2 $2,709.91
3 $3,347.54
4 $3,985.16
5 $4,622.79
6 $5,260.42
7 $5,379.97
For people who are 70 or older or anyone in a wheelchair, RCAA also offers this service over the phone. It is too late to take advantage of that service this year, but for 2012 you can get on the list by calling 444-3831, extension 202 between January 1 and March 31, 2012.
Source http://www.redwoodtimes.com