With brutally cold temperatures remaining in our forecast, there’s still time for lower income households to apply for financial assistance for your heating bill.

The Low Income Heating Assistance Program (LIHEAP) is a federally funded program that helps income-based qualified households receive additional money to offset the high cost of heating bills that can happen during the colder months. Greene County New Opportunities Coordinator Teresa Lansman says the income guidelines to qualify have been extended to 200-percent of the federal poverty level. 

Lansman talks about the variety of ways people can sign up to receive a lump sum payment to help with increased costs of your household’s heating bill.

“We are, at this point, back to people coming in or there is an online option that they can do by going through our website. We can take phone calls but they’ve got to go back to signing the application this year, instead of just a phone call for authorization.”

LIHEAP runs through April 30th and Lansman adds, once you qualify for the program, the utility company can’t shut-off the heat until then. Those wanting to apply for LIHEAP must bring proof of income, social security cards for everyone in the household and a gas and electric billing statement. Contact Lansman at New Opportunities at 515-386-2719.