LIHEAP summer energy assistance available starting today

[July 11, 2012]  Assistance with summer energy costs is available through LIHEAP, the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, to income-eligible at-risk households and provides benefits of $150 payments to electric providers. The summer program begins today and will conclude on July 27 or when funds have been exhausted.

At-risk households are defined as having seniors, people with disabilities, families with children less than 5 years of age at the date of the application and people with medical conditions that would be aggravated by extreme heat. To qualify, these at-risk households must have incomes equal to or less than 150 percent of the poverty level as defined in the 2012 Federal Poverty Guidelines published by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Benefits can be provided only to income-eligible households that can be included in one of the following groups:

• Households that contain a member with a medical condition that can be ameliorated by air conditioning, such as asthma, emphysema, coronary disease and terminal illness. Required documentation must include a doctor's certification letter dated within the last 90 days, stating that the medical condition would be aggravated by extreme heat.

• Households with a member who is age 60 or above.

• Households with children under 5 years of age at the date of the application

• Households with a member receiving Social Security disability benefits or with a pending determination case at the Social Security Administration. Required documentation must include a letter of determination from the SSA or receipt of Social Security disability benefit statement.

The focus of this cooling program is electric service. The program benefits are summer energy assistance payments of $150 to electric providers.

To apply for the program, contact the Community Action Partnership office in your county:

• DeWitt County, 217-935-2455

• Menard County, 217-632-3878

• Mason County, 309-543-6988

• Piatt County, 217-762-2421

• Logan County, 217-732-2159

[Text from file received from Community Action Partnership of Central Illinois]