Heating Assistance Program helps fill the gaps with heating costs in winter months

Hundreds of households in our nine-county diocesan area face difficult decisions between having heat and paying for other necessities like food or medicine each winter. From its inception in the early  1980s until now, the Home Heating Assistance Program has given more than $2.2 million and aided more than 13,000 families in our diocese to make that decision a little easier.

The program is funded through a special second collection taken in parishes
throughout the diocese every November. More than 50 parishes from around the
diocese participate. Twenty percent of funds raised stay within the parish to distribute locally. The remaining money is directed into the Home Heating Assistance Fund, where it helps families and individuals from around the diocese with whatever their heating needs may be — fuel oil, natural gas, electricity, firewood, etc.

The program is available to all those in need and there is no income-level requirement. Participants receiving funds are required to provide a shutoff notice or proof of fuel needed. To lower overhead costs and allow donations to go directly to those in need, the program is led primarily by
volunteers. These volunteers not only help distribute the program funds, but they also help individuals in need connect with other resources if their fuel needs are too great for the program to meet alone.

“The Home Heating Assistance Program has been a blessing,” said a staff member from partner organization Christian Neighbors in Plainwell. “This program has helped countless families, senior citizens, and single parents
keep the heat on in their homes. We have many seniors that live on fixed incomes that are barely scraping by on their low social security payment that are unable to pay for a propane fill or high gas bills. This assistance program allows them to stay warm in the winter.”

This program meets a need that is unlikely to disappear. Currently, 24% of all Michigan households fall below 150% of the Federal Poverty Level. In August 2022 alone, more than half a million households in Michigan were more than 30 days past due on their utility bills.* With inflation and the cost of energy on the rise, it is likely this need will continue to increase.

In 2022, the program helped more than 700 individuals and 270 households stay warm throughout the winter. This year’s second collection was held Nov. 19-20 in the parishes; however, donations can be made anytime directly to Catholic Charities at www.ccdok.org.

“We can’t tell you how much this source of funding helped many of our neighbors in need here in the St. Joe/Benton Harbor area,” says Wanda Killips, St. Joseph Conference Society of St. Vincent de Paul. “We appreciate all the parishioners in the diocese for their generous donations and all of the volunteers/workers who helped make this possible.”