A program that helps local families pay their heating and cooling bills is in jeopardy as federal layoffs eliminated the entire staff of the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program.
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As previously reported on News Center 7 at 6, the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) subsidizes utility costs for more than 265,000 homes across Ohio.
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Families that enroll in LIHEAP save about $400 each year.
Congress had approved more than $4 billion for the program nationwide. The people who ran the program were among the 10,000 Department of Health and Human Service workers that were laid off a week ago.
Katrina Matzler, National Director of the National Energy and Utility Affordability Coalition (NEUAC), has some perspective about what the LIHEAP program does.
“The low-income home energy assistance programs assist those who are most vulnerable, including people with disabilities and chronic health conditions, families with young children, seniors with maintaining access to energy in their homes,” Metzler said.
In the Dayton area, the Miami Valley Community Action Partnership administers the federal funds to people in need. They help low-income households in Montgomery, Greene, Darke and Preble counties pay for their heat in the winter and their air conditioning in the summer.
News Center 7 is waiting to hear back from the Miami Valley Community Action Partnership about how these cuts will impact them.
At this time, it is not clear if the program will continue under new leadership.
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