Gift of Warmth begins: How to help your neighbors heat their homes as fuel prices surge

PORTSMOUTH — With inflation hitting hard and prices high for fuel, utilities, housing and food, experts say this is going to be a tough winter.

For the 17th year, Seacoast Media Group is raising funds from its generous and warm-hearted readers through the Gift of Warmth heating assistance campaign. In 2022-23, we are again partnering with Rockingham Community Action and Community Action Partners of Strafford County to help raise money for their fuel assistance programs. The money raised is used by the CAP programs to supplement their federal budget allotments and to help those families who need help but may fall just outside the income levels that would make them eligible for federal funds. Gift of Warmth funds allow the community action programs to respond to community need with far more flexibility than restrictive federal fuel assistance funding.

Over the past 16 years, the Gift of Warmth campaign has raised roughly $780,000 to help individuals and families in need in Rockingham and Strafford counties stay warm each winter.

Money is raised and distributed to the two CAPs by sharing the stories of Rockingham and Strafford County individuals and families who have been helped by the programs. The people who generously share their personal stories do so to let the community know that if you are cold or in crisis, the community action programs are ready to help.

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"This year will, and has already, presented us with some significantly increased needs in housing, heating issues and so much more," said Patte Ardizzoni, communications director of Southern New Hampshire Services, which oversees Rockingham Community Action. "As the weather turns colder, the requests for fuel increase, and as furnaces are turned on many residents find that repairs need to be made at a cost that's prohibitive."

Betsey Andrews Parker, chief executive officer of Community Action Partners of Strafford County, predicted 2022-23 will bring the biggest need for assistance in many years.

"I think this year will be even worse than what we saw during the pandemic," Andrews Parker said. "We opened up our application process on Nov. 1, and we have already surpassed the amount of households we usually service in a year."

Ardizzoni spoke of Dan Girard, who has been with her organization's weatherization program for more than three decades.

"He works inside of clients homes and no one is a bigger advocate for Gift of Warmth than Danny," she said.

"Gift of Warmth funds have truly been a godsend funding source for our clients when they have nowhere else to turn," Girard said.

Ardizzoni said Community Action Partnership has always been the one doorway where someone can find the support needed to help with financial challenges.

"And when we're given the opportunity to work with an individual or family, we find other ways — other linkages — whether it's within our agency or with a community partner that will help them to move forward with solid footing," she said.

Ardizzoni said during last winter's heating season, the fuel assistance program in southern New Hampshire served just over 28,351 households.

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"In Rockingham County we processed 11,333 of those applications," she said. "Since Nov. 1, when the fuel program first opened, SNHS/RCA has already enrolled 3,616 households and the appointments are booked out for three weeks. Unfortunately, due to the high energy costs, we are expecting household benefits to be exhausted far more quickly than has happened in the past."

The available assistance may not be enough.

"What we are hearing is that the fuel supplement is not even going to cover a tank of oil this season," said Andrews Parker. "It will not suffice. The rental program is ending just as cost are rising. This is truly a concern for people who are already fragile. People are already asking about what we might get from the Gift of Warmth program. People who are at 150% above the poverty level are coming to us looking for help. The elderly are frightened about getting through the winter. People who had received fuel assistance in the past and no longer needed it, are coming back to us this year."

Ardizzoni said people in the Seacoast and Tri-City areas have come to depend on Gift of Warmth because they know it has been there every year.

"The monies that come through the Gift of Warmth campaign allow us the ability to meet the demand, even if benefits have been exhausted," said Ardizzoni. "Seacoast Media Group has always put their trust in us to know who needs the help, and how best to provide that service. Keeping people safely housed, warm and supported is what the Gift of Warmth allows."

How to donate

Donations are gratefully accepted, and will be distributed among the two CAP programs for them to make a real difference in real lives.

This year, we ask that checks donated to Gift of Warmth be made out directly to either Rockingham Community Action or the Community Action Partnership of Strafford County. Please write “Gift of Warmth” in the check memo line to ensure the money goes for fuel assistance.

Checks can be mailed to Gift of Warmth, Seacoast Media Group, 111 New Hampshire Ave., Portsmouth, NH, 03801. We will tally the checks, record the names of each week’s contributors and then forward the checks on to the two county community action programs. Each week throughout the campaign, Seacoast Media Group will publish that week’s donors.

Again, please make the checks out to either the Rockingham Community Action Program or the Community Action Partnership of Strafford County and write Gift of Warmth in the memo line.

If you need help

To apply for fuel assistance, call Rockingham Community Action at (603) 431-2911. People experiencing any significant hardship or financial crisis can also call and they will be referred to the appropriate person. For more information, visit snhs.org.

For Community Action Partnership of Strafford County, call (603) 435-2500 or visit straffordcap.org.

This article originally appeared on Fosters Daily Democrat: Gift of Warmth donations needed as heating costs skyrocket in NH, ME