Keep the Heat On

AP: Wood heat heats up as homeowners give boot to oil

webmaster — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 02:14:48 +0000

January 22, 2012|Clarke Canfield, Associated Press

When oil prices skyrocketed to more than $4 a gallon four years ago, Dan Stevens got rid of his oil-burning furnace, oil tank and heating baseboards and began using wood to heat his home. He wasn’t the only one.

The number of households using wood as their primary heating source nearly doubled in Maine from 2000 to 2010, while growing by a third nationwide, according to U.S. Census figures.

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Dialysis patient returns to warm home

webmaster — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 02:11:05 +0000

BY BRIAN J. LOWNEY, 1/12/12

PROVIDENCE – When Kathleen’s husband was hospitalized last week with tremors, she knew that he could not return to a cold house.

After being rushed to the hospital twice on the same day, several medical tests determined that the 53 year-old dialysis patient needed to have his medication adjusted, and was told that it was crucial that he stay warm once he returned home.

Despite unseasonably warm temperatures for this time of year, in which the National Weather Service Forecast Office, as of Tuesday, has recorded an average daily temperature in Providence this month of 34 degrees – compared to 26 degrees for Jan., 2011; 29 degrees for Jan. 2010; and 24 degrees for Jan., 2009 – many Rhode Islanders continue to have difficulty heating their homes.

A night on the street

webmaster — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 02:03:55 +0000

Young people raise awareness of homeless problem, $1,500 for heating assistance

BY RICK SNIZEK, Editor, 1/12/12

CRANSTON — Despite cold temperatures, the thought that others could be spending the entire winter season huddled in the same type of cardboard boxes that they were using for shelter helped Gislen Frias and her peers get through a frigid, drizzly night.

Frias and 40 other high school and college students, including a group from St. Francis de Sales Parish in North Kingstown – along with several chaperones – took part in a recent Sleep Out organized by the diocese’s Office of Catholic Youth Ministry.

“I’ve always wondered how those without homes live. This is a good experience to help us appreciate what we have,” said Frias, 22, a parishioner of Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Parish in North Providence.

Cancer patient fears pipes will freeze

webmaster — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 02:00:53 +0000

BY BRIAN J. LOWNEY, Assistant Editor, 1/5/11

CHEPACHET – When Gary Wheaton was diagnosed with a re occurrence of lung cancer a few weeks before Christmas, one of his immediate concerns was keeping warm during the winter while he receives a grueling regimen of radiation.

Wheaton, a former engineering inspector who worships at St. Philip Church in Greenville, was diagnosed with lymphoma in 2008. He underwent extensive treatment and spent more than three years in remission.

ProJo: R.I. extends heating-assistance contract with ProCAP

webmaster — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 17:10:37 +0000

January 4, 2012
By Alisha A. Pina
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — The state Office of Energy Resources is extending its contract with the cash-strapped Providence Community Action Program, its receiver told Superior Court Judge Michael Silverstein this morning.

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ProJo: Heating oil prices climb as temperatures fall

webmaster — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 14:21:29 +0000

By ANDY SMITH JOURNAL STAFF WRITER
The 150,000 Rhode Island households that heat with oil got a dose of bad news Tuesday.
The state’s energy office released figures from the past week showing that oil prices had risen for the second straight week, to an average of $3.67 per gallon, a 3-cent increase.

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Help keep Rhode Islanders warm this winter – consider a donation to Keep the Heat On

AP: House approved spending bill slashed heat aid

webmaster — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 20:49:35 +0000

BY ANDREW MIGA, The Associated Press

WASHINGTON – Congress is poised to reduce federal home heating aid by about 25 percent this winter, a move that could impact thousands of poor and elderly people in New England.

The $1 trillion-plus year-end spending package lawmakers approved Friday included $3.5 billion for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, a cut of $1.2 billion from last year. The Senate is expected to pass the measure today.
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Annual ‘Sounds of the Season’ concert to benefit heating assistance program

webmaster — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 20:41:06 +0000

12/15/11

PROVIDENCE—The Gregorian Choir and Festival Orchestra benefit concert for ‘Keep the Heat On’ will air on Rhode Island Catholic Hour on Tuesday, December 20 at 9:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m., on Cox channel 14, Verizon channel 33 and Full Channel 14.

To watch the concert or read more, please click here

Assistance helps a distraught mother care for ill son

webmaster — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 20:38:32 +0000

BY BRIAN J. LOWNEY, Assistant Editor, 12/15/11

JOHNSTON – When Anna saw that the propane tank outside her small home was almost empty last week, she began to cry.

Fearful that her 52 year-old son, who is recovering from two major heart attacks, would catch a cold, Anna called a local community action program but was told that federal funds had not been released to local community action programs to provide heating assistance.

To donate to Keep the Heat On, please click here

Thousands brace for winter as states cut heating aid

webmaster — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 20:36:36 +0000

By ANDREW MIGA, The Associated Press

Posted Dec. 11, 2011, at 9:40 a.m.

WASHINGTON — Mary Power is 92 and worried about surviving another frigid New England winter because deep cuts in federal home heating assistance benefits mean she probably can’t afford enough heating oil to stay warm.

She lives in a drafty trailer in Boston’s West Roxbury neighborhood and gets by on $11,148 a year in pension and Social Security benefits. Her heating aid help this year will drop from $1,035 to $685. With rising heating oil prices, it probably will cost her more than $3,000 for enough oil to keep warm unless she turns her thermostat down to 60 degrees, as she plans.

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