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More residents needing help to pay utilities

Staff photo by Pat Auckerman Jill Bielstein holds up her February utility bill in excess of $600 at her home in Trenton on Friday, March 5.

ENLARGE PHOTO

This image tracks the number of people applying for the Home Energy Assistance Program in Butler County over recent years.

ENLARGE PHOTO

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By Tiffany Y. Latta, Staff Writer Updated 12:18 AM Sunday, March 7, 2010

HAMILTON — After a lengthy battle with breast cancer in 2006, Jill Bielstein was swamped with medical bills and struggling to pay her utility bills.

With her credit cards maxed out and savings depleted, Bielstein’s electricity bill, which was behind about five months, ballooned to $600 in January.

“I lived on my credit cards and depleted my 401K and then found myself behind,” said Bielstein, 51, of Trenton, who is unemployed. “I had to decide what was most important to pay so I let my electric go.”

Bielstein received help from the Emergency Home Energy Assistance Program (E-HEAP) offered at Supports to Encourage Low Income Families in Hamilton, which is helping a record number of Butler County residents this winter.

SELF has helped 3,254 families get funds through the Emergency Home Energy Assistance Program as of Feb. 26, more than 400 applications or up 16 than during the same period last year.

“The economy has really caused more families that were teetering on the edge to fall over and require them to get emergency help,’’ said Jeffrey Diver, director of SELF, which serves residents throughout the county.

Bielstein, who had worked as a technical writer before her illness, said she had never asked for assistance before and wasn’t aware of programs like HEAP until a friend discovered SELF.

“It was extremely humbling, but sometimes you need a hand up,” Bielstein said. “I just wish that I had known about this program and others before I got so far behind.”

Jobless struggle to stay warm

The number of Butler County and Ohio residents applying for heating assistance is on pace to reach record levels this winter.

Supports to Encourage Low Income Families has helped 3,254 families get funds through the Emergency Home Energy Assistance Program as of Feb. 26, up 16 percent during the same period last year when the number of residents assisted surpassed a 13-year record.

Statewide, 392,375 Ohioans have received Regular HEAP assistance since Nov. 1, according to the Ohio Department of Development.

When the Regular HEAP program ends, the number of applicants is expected to far exceed the number of Ohioans assisted last year when the state set a 10-year record helping 394,028 families, said agency spokeswoman Eileen Turner.

Turner said the upswing in HEAP assistance is due at least in part to newer income guidelines.

The limit now is 200 percent below the poverty level, up from 175. That means a family of four can earn up to $44,100 and still qualify for aid.

But mostly, Diver said the increase is a result of the poor economy.

Many of the families needing help this year are unemployed and seeking emergency aid for the first time, including some with advanced college degrees who have been unemployed for a year or more, Diver said.

“We’ve seen people with Ph.Ds come in,” Diver said. “This economy is certainly affecting people who have never had to ask for help before.”

Athena Maly, HEAP coordinator for SELF, said several weeks ago, dozens lined up hours before the agency opened its doors, seeking help.

“I’ve never seen — at least since I started working here — people showing up at our door at 5 o’clock in the morning to apply. It was unbelievable,” Maly said. “There was that panic that if I’m not one of the first in line I’m not going to get my utilities taken care of today.”

In recent weeks, however, the number of applicants have slowed, Maly said.

Temperatures in Butler County averaged about 27 degrees in February, and although temperatures will reach 50 this weekend, meteorologists say cold winter snaps and snowstorms remain common in March.

That’s why Diver and others fear that many families who have already used the one-time heating assistance will struggle to stay warm.

“It’s starting to taper off compared to beginning of the program,” Maly said, adding that she expects more people to start coming in again toward the end of the program.

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