Staying Warm this Winter

This week’s post is submitted by contributor Liza Petra, Executive Director of the Guilford Foundation.

I love the snow. Our family is thrilled by all of it: sledding, snowball fights, building snowmen, skiing—we appreciate a good winter Nor’easter and look forward to snow days, cocoa, and freezing cold noses. 

This year, however, I have been grateful that it’s been mild. I’ve missed the snow, to be sure, but I am one of those folks who actually has the means to get through the cold winter. We have a wood burning stove and full oil tank, and the resources to keep them going all winter long. There are too many people along the shoreline, however, who can’t afford the increased costs of energy in the winters. And this year, the basic needs organizations that usually help these families out have seen their funding for fuel assistance cut in half.

Here are the sobering facts:

• The Federal Government is set to cut funding to the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), a federal energy assistance program, by half in 2012 from 2011, which translates to a total loss of $41 million for Connecticut. 
• Operation Fuel, a private nonprofit statewide organization, steps in to provide funds when LIHEAP fall short. Last year, before the federal cuts, Operation Fuel had to shut down its program in mid-February when it ran out of funds (after providing $1.7 million)—the first time ever in its 34-year history that funding ran dry.
• Town specific data:
• Branford: 2010-11 saw the number of applications for assistance increase from 450 to 550 from the previous year, with 241 approved (up from 203). Over a four-day period alone (January 10^th to the 13^th, 2012), Branford Counseling Center had 96 requests for assistance.
• Guilford: In 2010-11, Guilford Social Services took 372 household applications for the LIHEAP, a jump from 349 the previous year. From 1991 to 2008, the maximum number of household applications in a year was 220.
• Madison: Last year 422 Madison households received energy assistance. 

This is the bottom line: Federal and State budget cuts to fuel assistance in 2011-12 mean that our communities will receive half of the dollars received last year to help people who can’t pay for heat, which wasn’t enough funding to meet the need to begin with.

Recognizing the devastating impact this will have on our neighbors, the Community Foundations in Branford, Guilford and Madison are each spearheading fundraising efforts in their communities to address the shortfall. The goal of “Foundations Fuel Families” is to raise $100,000 in private funding from within our communities to meet the funding gap for fuel assistance for those in need. To that end, each of the Community Foundations has pledged a challenge grant of up to $10,000 that would match—dollar for dollar—every dollar raised in that town. All dollars raised in a town will stay in that town.

By all means, let’s enjoy the snow and the brisk New England winter, and let’s also remember our neighbors who can’t find the same enjoyment. Look for more information in the coming weeks from your Community Foundations in Branford, Madison and Guilford.

Stay warm!

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