HEARTSHARE has a long history of lending a helping hand to generations of New Yorkers who have needed help with utility assistance over the past quarter-century, and their Director of Energy Assistance and Community Development Tanya Jones – a longtime advocate for both causes to great success – sits down with LIHEAP.Org to give readers a front-line look at what it’s been like for her organization working with the community during this pandemic:
Director Jones: We’re seeing a lot of low-to-moderate income families, and A LOT who have never NOT had a job, and they are emailing us saying “I’ve never been in this position, I’ve always kept up with my bills, and now because of the pandemic and me losing my job, I don’t know where else to turn and I need help. So a lot of the new faces are the working class who are now out of a job and didn’t expect this to happen, and a lot of people only had minimal savings, because again, when you have a paycheck coming in you’re not worrying about it, and now they have nothing. We’ve had a lot of restaurant workers, people from the non-profit sector whose offices are closed, I see people who work part-time in retail, and now those stores are closed, and a lot of people who depended on overtime to make ends meet and now they’re out of a job.
There’s so many people who are not aware of the benefit, and others who are afraid to apply for it, and then we see those same families light candles, or are opening their ovens to heat their homes because they don’t have electricity. That can cause carbon monoxide poisoning, or they’re using space heaters and you see fires. So if they go and get their LIHEAP benefit, it avoids those types of life-threatening situations. So the program truly is life-saving, because if people don’t know what else to do if they’re not getting their LIHEAP benefit, then they’re doing these other things, and LIHEAP is one of the conduits to stop that behavior.
LIHEAP.Org: People usually think of utility assistance as related to keeping the lights on, but in fact – and especially – during a quarantine-designed home lockdown like this one has been, utilities relate to so many other matters of life and death. Could you elaborate a bit on what you’re seeing within that aspect of your applicant pool?
Director Jones: Especially for those vulnerable populations who are already at home with a disability or elderly and dependant on a ventilator or respirator, or for someone from that population who catches Covid and has to go into quarantine, and not only that, but there are so many people who are on Oxygen tanks, and nobody thinks about that. Or people who have medicine that needs to be defibrillated, so how do you administer your medicine if you don’t have any power on? We also have had cancer patients that apply for utility assistance, so these are ESSENTIAL SERVICES and these people need electricity for so many other things besides just turning the light on or keeping the heat on in the winter and air in the summer.
The issue is, because New York is the epi-centre of the virus right now and there’s a big moratorium on disconnections, people are NOT applying as much as they should, because so many people are out of work, and looking at the utilities as “Okay, I’m not going to get shut-off anytime soon, so let me repurpose this money for food and rent.” So we’ve seen a little bit of a lull of people applying for benefits, however we do know when we return to the new normal and utilities do start disconnecting, it’s going to be a catastrophe.
LIHEAP.Org: Would you mind telling readers a bit about your own background as an advocate for energy assistance?
Director Jones: I’ve been with Heartshare for 22 years and have been running the utility assistance programs for them for that same time. When I first started, LIHEAP was a major factor, and right now, LIHEAP is a major factor. LIHEAP gives you the bulk of the money during the winter that you need to pay bills, and if there’s no LIHEAP, people are NOT going to get by. Utility assistance programs are also essential, but once you get regular and then emergency Heap, that’s what’s carrying you through in order to get supplemental grants. But if there’s no LIHEAP funds, it's detrimental to all of our vulnerable populations. I’ve been involved with NEUAC since it was NFFA, for 17 years. NEUAC is essential, they’re really the voice of the coalition and advocating for low-income populations and the importance of LIHEAP. They’re always asking us to sign on to letters that educate legislators, they really push that, so it’s really essential that NEUAC continue doing what they’re doing.
I feel like New York has had very strong leadership during this time, and I know other states are also looking to New York for leadership, and I really am proud of New York and the strides we have made during this pandemic. What’s going on in New York is the utilities have kept their utility assistance programs open because they want to make sure their customers are protected and that if they need help, they’re still able to get help. So even though offices are closed, they’re working remotely to make sure they work with us keeping their assistance funds open. Because we’re all bracing ourselves for the re-opening and everyone having that enormous bill and disconnections coming down, so we’re ready because we’ve all put our heads together because we know this is essential. Con Ed has a utility assistance fund with us, for instance, called Energy Share, and has put quite a bit of money into that to help cushion what’s coming.
LIHEAP.Org: As you look ahead to New York’s slow reopening from this whole pandemic, compounded by the expected prolonged economic recovery, and the summer cooling application season that’s already underway, do you
Director Jones: LIHEAP IS a life-saving program, along with other local Energy Assistance programs are a huge supplement, and in a lot of cases, they provide extra security to low-income families that need to get by just doesn’t stop because you have money today, it doesn’t mean you’re going to have it tomorrow. We really do see these catastrophic stories of people dying in fires trying to heat their homes with space heaters and opening ovens and lighting candles, so it’s really essential that these programs stay in place because sometimes there’s nowhere else for these families to turn.
Reporting by J.B.