Washington, DC - Congressman Gene Green (TX-29) announced the availability of $38 million in the Federal 2006 Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) for Texas. This money will allow LIHEAP to assist an additional 40,000 eligible Texas households.
The LIHEAP program was set up to assist low income households pay their high utility bills. Harris County households must have a total income below a certain limit depending on the number of members living in a household and have at least one member over 60 years of age or a disabled adult living in the household in order to qualify. In Harris County, the organization responsible for allocating these funds is Sheltering Arms Senior Service’s, a United Way agency.
The funding is part of an additional $1 billion Congress added to the program for 2006 in S. 2320, which became law on March 20, 2006 and the funds were released at the county level late last week. The additional funding will approximately double the LIHEAP funds for Texas and the number of families Sheltering Arms will be able to serve.
“I want to make sure that seniors and households with disabled adults know about the program and how to apply,” said Congressman Gene Green. “With our energy bills at an all time high, many of our citizens are in need of cooling assistance during the hot summer months. We have been able to allocate new monies to a program that does just that, and I want our citizens in need of assistance to take advantage of this opportunity.”
Applicants should contact the Harris County Sheltering Arms Senior Services Utility Assistance hotline at 713-956-7456 between 9:00am-12:00pm on Tuesday and Thursday in order to see if one qualifies and how to apply for LIHEAP assistance. For assistance in Spanish contact 713-812-8037, Monday and Thursday from 9:00am-12:00pm.
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