Free Daily Headlines :

  • COVID-19
  • Vaccine Info
  • Money
  • Politics
  • Education
  • Health
  • Justice
  • More
    • Environment
    • Economic Development
    • Gaming
    • Investigations
    • Social Services
    • TRANSPORTATION
  • Opinion
    • CT Viewpoints
    • CT Artpoints
DONATE
Reflecting Connecticut’s Reality.
    COVID-19
    Vaccine Info
    Money
    Politics
    Education
    Health
    Justice
    More
    Environment
    Economic Development
    Gaming
    Investigations
    Social Services
    TRANSPORTATION
    Opinion
    CT Viewpoints
    CT Artpoints

LET�S GET SOCIAL

Show your love for great stories and out standing journalism

Energy assistance for families needs to be preserved

  • by Edith Pollock Karsky
  • August 2, 2011
  • View as "Clean Read" "Exit Clean Read"

On a sunny summer day, it’s easy to forget that winter is just around the corner.  That’s no problem for some, as the thought of winter conjures up happy memories of family gatherings, snowmen, and hot cocoa.

But for more than 300,000 families throughout Connecticut, winter is a time of desperation and danger, because they can’t afford their home energy costs.  Or have to choose between buying food and paying their heating bill.

These are the choices that poor families in Connecticut have to make when the cold months set in. Research from the Children’s HealthWatch shows that infants and toddlers in energy-insecure households are much more likely to be in poorer health, hungry, and at-risk for developmental delays than children living in energy-secure households.

There is some good news, though, in the form of the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program.  LIHEAP is designed to provide relief for families who cannot afford to keep their homes heated.  LIHEAP is administered by our Community Action Agencies (CAAs), the federally-designated antipoverty agencies.  And families who receive support through LIHEAP are statistically shown to have healthier children–less likely to have growth problems and unhealthy weights and to require hospitalization when seeking emergency department care for acute medical problems.

Congress and President Obama have control over LIHEAP funding, and the General Assembly and Governor Malloy have control over how that money is used once it reaches Connecticut.  With their support, LIHEAP can remain the vital resource it has always been.  But it needs to be protected from cuts, and our state and federal elected officials need to be reminded of its critical importance, even though it may not always be a “front-burner” issue in people’s minds.

LIHEAP saves lives and helps families.  Dr. Deborah A. Frank, director of the Grow Clinic for Children at the Boston Medical Center, founder of Children’s HealthWatch and professor of child health and well-being at Boston University School of Medicine, noted before Congress, “Children will freeze to death before they starve to death, so confronted with the dire risks of dark and cold, parents turn to the only flexible part of a poor family’s budget, the food budget.”

LIHEAP prevents families from freezing or using dangerously jury-rigged appliances to heat their homes.  LIHEAP also helps tens of thousands of recipients who are seniors and thousands more who live with disabilities.

What’s more, LIHEAP is a good investment that helps the economy.  LIHEAP funding goes to businesses-including many small businesses-throughout Connecticut, which in turn helps the low-income families who are eligible for home heating fuel and utility assistance to partially cover their home energy costs.

Protecting LIHEAP funding is more important today than ever.  At its current level, our CAAs assist more than 110,000 eligible households each year-a nearly 30% increase in only five years – and that still doesn’t fully cover the need.  And with the U.S. Department of Energy predicting that energy prices will continue to rise, this means that even flat-funding LIHEAP will leave families vulnerable.

So while winter is the furthest thing from people’s minds in this hot summer, we need to remember that it will be here before we know it.  And we need a commitment now – from our elected leaders at every level – to preserve LIHEAP funding.  Connecticut’s families and economy are more than worth it.

 

Sign up for CT Mirror's free daily news summary.

Free to Read. Not Free to Produce.

The Connecticut Mirror is a nonprofit newsroom. 90% of our revenue comes from people like you. If you value our reporting please consider making a donation. You'll enjoy reading CT Mirror even more knowing you helped make it happen.

YES, I'LL DONATE TODAY

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Edith Pollock Karsky

SEE WHAT READERS SAID

RELATED STORIES
Lamont closed the restaurants. Now he is their promoter.
by Mark Pazniokas

A year after Gov. Ned Lamont banned indoor dining due to COVID-19, the industry has welcomed him as its savior.

A healthcare system too broken to fix
by Sosena Kedebe MD

On March 25, the White house announced that it was going to invest over $6 billion in health centers that are funded through the Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) in order to expand COVID-19 vaccinations and other health services provided to vulnerable populations. As a chief medical officer for a health center that is strained to reach some of the most disenfranchised patient population in Hartford, this was great news. Yet there was a part of me that took the news with a deep concern. Why you might ask?

The Connecticut Juvenile Training School and the lie that built it
by Colleen Shaddox 

Sitting in the paddy wagon, I was afraid – maybe apprehensive was a better word, since I rightly suspected that white privilege would guarantee me good treatment.  Still, I said a prayer of thanksgiving. After years of advocating for people in our carceral system, I was given a chance to develop more empathy.

Data on race, ethnicity and language is critical to making real healthcare progress
by Vicki Veltri, Tekisha Everette and Matt McDermott.

There are significant disparities in health status based upon race, ethnicity, and other factors that deprive many Connecticut residents of an equal opportunity to enjoy good health and well-being. That some Connecticut residents live without proper treatment of illness and injury due to disparities in health care access, affordability, and outcomes based upon race, ethnicity, and language (REL) is self-evident to many but not to all.

CT lawmakers call for funding to stop ‘mass killing’ of Black and brown children
by Kelan Lyons

Lawmakers identified a $5 billion proposal by the Biden administration, and marijuana and sports-betting legalization efforts, as potential funding.

Support Our Work

Show your love for great stories and outstanding journalism.

$
Select One
  • Monthly
  • Yearly
  • Once
Artpoint painter
CT ViewpointsCT Artpoints
Opinion A healthcare system too broken to fix
by Sosena Kedebe MD

On March 25, the White house announced that it was going to invest over $6 billion in health centers that are funded through the Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) in order to expand COVID-19 vaccinations and other health services provided to vulnerable populations. As a chief medical officer for a health center that is strained to reach some of the most disenfranchised patient population in Hartford, this was great news. Yet there was a part of me that took the news with a deep concern. Why you might ask?

Opinion The Connecticut Juvenile Training School and the lie that built it
by Colleen Shaddox 

Sitting in the paddy wagon, I was afraid – maybe apprehensive was a better word, since I rightly suspected that white privilege would guarantee me good treatment.  Still, I said a prayer of thanksgiving. After years of advocating for people in our carceral system, I was given a chance to develop more empathy.

Opinion Data on race, ethnicity and language is critical to making real healthcare progress
by Vicki Veltri, Tekisha Everette and Matt McDermott.

There are significant disparities in health status based upon race, ethnicity, and other factors that deprive many Connecticut residents of an equal opportunity to enjoy good health and well-being. That some Connecticut residents live without proper treatment of illness and injury due to disparities in health care access, affordability, and outcomes based upon race, ethnicity, and language (REL) is self-evident to many but not to all.

Opinion SB 1018: Connecticut’s effort to increase prosecutorial accountability and why it will not work
by Olivia Louthen

Senate Bill 1018 does not solve Connecticut’s largest criminal justice problem: outcomes for crime victims and defendants vary based on zip codes because judicial districts operate independently of one another.

Artwork Grand guidance
by Anne:Gogh

In a world of systemic oppression aimed towards those of darker skintones – representation matters. We are more than our equity elusive environments, more than numbers in a prison and much more than victims of societal dispositions. This piece depicts a melanated young man draped in a cape ascending high above multiple forms of oppression. […]

Artwork Shea
by Anthony Valentine

Shea is a story about race and social inequalities that plague America. It is a narrative that prompts the question, “Do you know what it’s like to wake up in new skin?”

Artwork The Declaration of Human Rights
by Andres Chaparro

Through my artwork I strive to create an example of ideas that reflect my desire to raise social consciousness, and cultural awareness. Jazz music is the catalyst to all my work, and plays a major influence in each piece of work.”

Artwork ‘A thing of beauty. Destroy it forever’
by Richard DiCarlo | Derby

During times like these it’s often fun to revisit something familiar and approach things with a different slant. I have been taking some Pop culture and Art masterpieces and applying the vintage 1960’s and 70’s classic figures (Fisher Price, little people) to the make an amusing pieces. Here is my homage to Fisher -Price, Yellow […]

Twitter Feed
A Twitter List by CTMirror

Engage

  • Reflections Tickets & Sponsorships
  • Events
  • Donate
  • Newsletter Sign-Up
  • Submit to Viewpoints
  • Submit to ArtPoints
  • Economic Indicator Dashboard
  • Speaking Engagements
  • Commenting Guidelines
  • Legal Notices
  • Contact Us

About

  • About CT Mirror
  • Announcements
  • Board
  • Staff
  • Sponsors and Funders
  • Donors
  • Friends of CT Mirror
  • History
  • Financial
  • Policies
  • Strategic Plan

Opportunity

  • Advertising and Sponsorship
  • Speaking Engagements
  • Use of Photography
  • Work for Us

Go Deeper

  • Steady Habits Podcast
  • Economic Indicator Dashboard
  • Five Things

The Connecticut News Project, Inc. 1049 Asylum Avenue, Hartford, CT 06105. Phone: 860-218-6380

© Copyright 2021, The Connecticut News Project. All Rights Reserved. Website by Web Publisher PRO