Keep the Heat On

PROVIDENCE - One city resident stated that if it was not for the assistance that she received from Bishop Thomas J. Tobin’s “Keep the Heat On” Challenge, her family would still be bathing in water boiled on a small electric burner that she purchased at a discount store when her home’s natural gas supply was shut off last July.

“I have always worked two jobs,” said the woman, who wishes to remain anonymous.

“I have always struggled, ever since I came from Nigeria in 1975,” she said. “I have never asked for assistance.”

The woman, who has worked in a jewelry factory, as a certified nurse’s assistant and as a housekeeper, stated that she has always paid her bills. Last summer, she fell behind when her family suffered some major financial setbacks and her gas was shut off.

“I had to cook on a small electric burner when I had food to cook,” she stated. “I tried to pay the gas company when I had some money, but I didn’t have enough. I was always hoping that things would get better.”

The woman said that she was full of despair, and contacted the Salvation Army’s Good Neighbor Energy Fund, which provided some assistance and whose staff directed her to the Interfaith Community Dire Emergency Fund.

“I had lost all hope,” the woman said. “I was praying that someone would help me. I will never forget the people who helped me. God will bless them. The ‘Keep the Heat On’ fund is a godsend. It gave me hope.”

“Last year was a terrible year,” she recalled, adding that as a result of living in a cold, drafty apartment, she developed pneumonia, and several weeks later, is still receiving medical treatment.

“When I go back to work, I want to give back something to the community that helped me,” she said gratefully.

According to Richard G. Andrade, coordinator of the Interfaith Community Dire Emergency Fund, many Rhode Island families wake up every morning and go to bed at night in a cold house.

“We are very grateful to Bishop Tobin for once again spearheading this campaign to assist those Rhode Islanders needing fuel assistance,” said Andrade. “The support that we have received this year has enabled us to help more than 130 families thus far.”
That figure represents more than 400 individuals of all ages living throughout the state.

“Our help has assured these people that when the bitter cold does come - and it will - they won’t have to scramble for heat,” he stated.

“If you have a poorly insulated residence, the heat escapes quickly,” Andrade said, noting that many individuals try to conserve energy by lowering the thermostat and trying to heat their homes with direct sunlight during daylight hours simply because they cannot afford the escalating cost of utilities.

Andrade noted that the “Keep the Heat On” fund has not experienced a decline in the number of applicants for heating assistance when compared to last year’s records.

The “Keep the Heat On” campaign was created by Bishop Tobin in 2005 to assist those individuals who have exhausted all other federal, state and private sources of funding for heating assistance such as LIHEAP (the Low Income Heating Energy Assistance Program) and the Salvation Army’s Good Neighbor Energy Fund. Most recipients work full-time but receive low wages.

“Once those resources are exhausted, the ‘Keep the Heat On’ fund steps in,” Andrade said.

“Our goal is to make sure that every Rhode Island family has heat during the winter season,” the program coordinator emphasized, adding that the fund helps to restore heat to those who have lost service, or to avoid termination of service for those facing a shut-off.

“The fund also helps to put oil in the tank,” Andrade said, adding that many low-income Rhode Islanders who heat with oil cannot afford its skyrocketing cost.

“The ‘Keep the Heat On’ fund provides recipients with an opportunity to move forward with their heating bills,” he stated. “It’s just not paying an old bill - it’s giving them an opportunity to improve the quality of their lives.”

This article originally appeared in The Providence Visitor. Written by Brian Lowney.