Record Numbers Need Help Heating Homes

[OhioChick]

Government Nearly Doubled Fuel Assistance Last Fall

POSTED: 10:15 am EST January 13, 2009

Whenever temperatures plummet in Boston, Amos Jones and his family of four feel the chill.

Jones keeps his thermostat at 60 degrees and bundles up in extra sweaters and sweatsuits. Occasionally, he says, he allows a little luxury with the thermostat and turns the heat up to 72 degrees, "just to knock off the chill" in their home in Boston's Dorchester neighborhood.

This, despite the fact that Jones received 200 gallons of heating oil through a federally funded energy assistance program.

The Jones family is part of a record surge of people in need of help staying warm. About 7.3 million households are expected to get fuel aid this winter, according to a survey released Monday by the National Energy Assistance Directors' Association, which represents state-run low-income energy assistance programs.

That's nearly 1.5 million more households than last winter, a 25 percent increase. It's also about 800,000 more households than the previous high in 1985, the group said.

"Many of these familes live paycheck to paycheck," said Mark Wolfe, the group's executive director. "They might have been middle class last week before they lost their jobs, but now they're not. These are record numbers of people."

More: http://www.newsnet5.com/money/18469565/detail.html

[Purveyor]

1. The falling oil price has helped us out so far this winter. Just ordered heating oil today

and the price is $1.99.

Last year we had to pay $3.37 and relied upon electric heaters where we could.