Gift of Warmth donations needed as heating costs skyrocket in NH, ME - Seacoastonline.com

PORTSMOUTH — With ostentation hitting hard and prices precocious for fuel, utilities, lodging and food, experts accidental this is going to beryllium a pugnacious winter.

For the 17th year, Seacoast Media Group is raising funds from its generous and warm-hearted readers done 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 assistance rise wealth for their substance assistance programs. The wealth raised is utilized by the CAP programs to supplement their national fund allotments and to assistance those families who request assistance but whitethorn autumn conscionable extracurricular the income levels that would marque them eligible for national funds. Gift of Warmth funds let the assemblage enactment programs to respond to assemblage request with acold much flexibility than restrictive national substance assistance funding.

Over the past 16 years, the Gift of Warmth run has raised astir $780,000 to assistance individuals and families successful request successful Rockingham and Strafford counties enactment lukewarm each winter.

Money is raised and distributed to the 2 CAPs by sharing the stories of Rockingham and Strafford County individuals and families who person been helped by the programs. The radical who generously stock their idiosyncratic stories bash truthful to fto the assemblage cognize that if you are acold oregon successful crisis, the assemblage enactment programs are acceptable to help.

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"This twelvemonth will, and has already, presented america with immoderate importantly accrued needs successful housing, heating issues and truthful overmuch more," said Patte Ardizzoni, communications manager of Southern New Hampshire Services, which oversees Rockingham Community Action. "As the upwind turns colder, the requests for substance increase, and arsenic furnaces are turned connected galore residents find that repairs request to beryllium made astatine a outgo that's prohibitive."

Betsey Andrews Parker, main enforcement serviceman of Community Action Partners of Strafford County, predicted 2022-23 volition bring the biggest request for assistance successful galore years.

"I deliberation this twelvemonth volition beryllium adjacent worse than what we saw during the pandemic," Andrews Parker said. "We opened up our exertion process connected Nov. 1, and we person already surpassed the magnitude of households we usually work successful a year."

Ardizzoni spoke of Dan Girard, who has been with her organization's weatherization programme for much than 3 decades.

"He works wrong of clients homes and nary 1 is simply a bigger advocator for Gift of Warmth than Danny," she said.

"Gift of Warmth funds person genuinely been a godsend backing root for our clients erstwhile they person obscurity other to turn," Girard said.

Ardizzoni said Community Action Partnership has ever been the 1 doorway wherever idiosyncratic tin find the enactment needed to assistance with fiscal challenges.

"And erstwhile we're fixed the accidental to enactment with an idiosyncratic oregon family, we find different ways — different linkages — whether it's wrong our bureau oregon with a assemblage spouse that volition assistance them to determination guardant with coagulated footing," she said.

Ardizzoni said during past winter's heating season, the substance assistance programme successful confederate New Hampshire served conscionable implicit 28,351 households.

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"In Rockingham County we processed 11,333 of those applications," she said. "Since Nov. 1, erstwhile the substance programme archetypal opened, SNHS/RCA has already enrolled 3,616 households and the appointments are booked retired for 3 weeks. Unfortunately, owed to the precocious vigor costs, we are expecting household benefits to beryllium exhausted acold much rapidly than has happened successful the past."

The disposable assistance whitethorn not beryllium enough.

"What we are proceeding is that the substance supplement is not adjacent going to screen a vessel of lipid this season," said Andrews Parker. "It volition not suffice. The rental programme is ending conscionable arsenic outgo are rising. This is genuinely a interest for radical who are already fragile. People are already asking astir what we mightiness get from the Gift of Warmth program. People who are astatine 150% supra the poorness level are coming to america looking for help. The aged are frightened astir getting done the winter. People who had received substance assistance successful the past and nary longer needed it, are coming backmost to america this year."

Ardizzoni said radical successful the Seacoast and Tri-City areas person travel to beryllium connected Gift of Warmth due to the fact that they cognize it has been determination each year.

"The monies that travel done the Gift of Warmth run let america the quality to conscionable the demand, adjacent if benefits person been exhausted," said Ardizzoni. "Seacoast Media Group has ever enactment their spot successful america to cognize who needs the help, and however champion to supply that service. Keeping radical safely housed, lukewarm and supported is what the Gift of Warmth allows."

How to donate

Donations are gratefully accepted, and volition beryllium distributed among the 2 CAP programs for them to marque a existent quality successful existent lives.

This year, we inquire that checks donated to Gift of Warmth beryllium made retired straight to either Rockingham Community Action oregon the Community Action Partnership of Strafford County. Please constitute “Gift of Warmth” successful the cheque memo enactment to guarantee the wealth goes for substance assistance.

Checks tin beryllium mailed to Gift of Warmth, Seacoast Media Group, 111 New Hampshire Ave., Portsmouth, NH, 03801. We volition tally the checks, grounds the names of each week’s contributors and past guardant the checks connected to the 2 region assemblage enactment programs. Each week passim the campaign, Seacoast Media Group volition people that week’s donors.

Again, delight marque the checks retired to either the Rockingham Community Action Program oregon the Community Action Partnership of Strafford County and constitute Gift of Warmth successful the memo line.

If you request help

To use for substance assistance, telephone Rockingham Community Action astatine (603) 431-2911. People experiencing immoderate important hardship oregon fiscal situation tin besides telephone and they volition beryllium referred to the due person. For much information, visit snhs.org. 

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