Those still receiving funds say they are very grateful.
New Hampshire is expected to receive only $14.7 million from the $1.7 billion approved LIHEAP funds, which is less than half of the $34.3 million the state received in the previous year. Last year, the federal government approved $4.5 billion in funding for the program.
The state Office of Energy and Planning is instructing local community action agencies to release benefits first to those households below 125 percent of the federal poverty guidelines.
Those households between 125 percent and 200 percent of federal poverty guidelines will be placed on a waiting list pending further federal funding. All households up to the 200 percent federal poverty guidelines will be eligible for emergency benefits if they are in a situation where they have no heat.
"I have to thank God I fell under that cap," said Rochester resident Tracey Hinson. "I can't stress how important it is."
As a single mother, Hinson, 41, is just barely making the cut for fuel assistance through Strafford County Community Action Partnership.
"I drive a bus, and I make more money doing that," she said than of any other job. "I make enough to get by, but I don't have enough to pay my heating bill."
For the last eight and a half years, Hinson has been driving buses and currently drives for the Barrington School District through Student Transportation of America. Making $14.50 an hour, she tries to get as many hours in a week, but usually only averages from 30 to 37 hours. On snow days she doesn't make any money when the buses are shut down, and in the summer she can only pick up jobs when there are trips planned for summer programs.
Hinson said she has done the math, and to get a full-time job, she'd have to make about $18 to $20 an hour to break even. She expects if she had to put her 8-year-old son in day care, she'd have to spend about $150 a week.
Almost nine years ago, Hinson had been working for Alliance Imaging in Andover, Mass., but was laid off due to cutbacks.
"When it was time to go back, I lived an hour away," she said.
The expense for the commute was too much for her to make the commitment to try to get another job with the company or something that far away.
She is currently earning a degree in criminal justice and sociology and is hoping to get a job helping troubled teens, but the job market isn't looking good.
"For every one job, there are 100 people applying," she said.
It's making it harder for her to find a job. Out of the field for eight years, she said it's hard to convince businesses she is still capable of the jobs she once held. She said many of the positions she does qualify for are willing to hire her, but for $2 less an hour than she makes now.
Despite the lack of jobs on the market, Hinson said she loves driving buses for now. It's allowed her to save some money.
For the last five years, she has saved up enough money to purchase a two-bedroom home in Rochester. She said she has saved money paying a lower rate mortgage than when she was paying rent.
However, when they moved into their new home, their toilet broke within the first two weeks and had to be replaced. She also had to replace four windows that were drafty, she said. She went to the Habitat for Humanity ReStore in Newington to find cheap replacements and had a friend install them to save money.
With the new house, Hinson wasn't expecting to see her fuel prices increase so drastically, either. She is now going from using natural gas to kerosene and is watching the bill rise from $100 a month to a possible $500 a month when it gets extremely cold.
She said she had expected to be able to make the payments herself, but had an accident earlier this year that resulted in two slipped disks in her back, putting her out of work for two months.
She doesn't drink or smoke and said she doesn't buy new things all the time. Her goal, she said, it to provide a good home for her son and give him a decent education. She said she even makes a point to help others by donating to the Salvation Army when she sees the red kettles in front of stores and donates toys each winter.
"I've given things up," she said. "I don't do the extravagant things anymore."
Hinson has heard stories of people heating their homes by turning on their electric stoves and keeping the stove door open to let out the heat. She said it's important for people to know that the fuel assistance program is important.
"It's necessary," she said of the program. "It's for everyone who needs it. It's not something people look at being on forever, but's it's a transition for when people need it."
The $1,500 she said she expects to receive should cover her costs, but she said there is the possibility that it won't be enough for it all. It's much better than having to choose between having her heat or giving up other necessary items, she says.
"It's crazy how the government can send so much money to other countries and not take care of its people at home," she said. "We're in debt, but we're shipping money to other people."
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