Kids help neighbors heat their homes
By Andrew Stein
ADDISON COUNTY — When winter rolls into the Green Mountains, many Vermonters gear up for a season of fun. But while some look forward to the colder months, others, like Starksboro’s April Parent, see only struggle on the horizon.
“Before winter even comes, in August or September, we start worrying about making it,” said Parent. “What are the heating bills going to run? What are the electric bills going to run? It’s really a struggle every year.”
While prices for heating fuels have risen steadily and assistance programs strain to meet rising demands, an effort staffed by Mount Abraham Union High School volunteers is pitching in to provide more affordable heat to the area’s low-income residents.
Such help is welcome by people like Parent. Four years ago, she lost her job driving a truck for J.R.’s Rubbish and Recycling of Bridport. She was the sole provider for her family, supporting her middle-school-age son and her husband, who now hasn’t worked in 10 years due to a chronic lung disease. Since then, she’s sought help from the federally funded Low Income Heating Assistance Program (LIHEAP). But the program isn’t meant to meet all of her needs, and it typically doesn’t.
“Usually in January or so, we start running really low on fuel, and we’ve run out twice over the past four years,” she said. “It gets really cold in the house. Pipes start freezing. And we have to call a 1-800 number to get help.”
The bulk of Vermont’s LIHEAP funds are administered through the Seasonal Fuel Assistance Program — the deadline for applying is fast approaching on Feb. 29. This program, however, can’t cover a family’s entire seasonal heating bill, explained Richard Moffi, state fuel program chief.
