CLEVELAND — Those looking for help paying for electricity and heating bills this winter will likely face more hurdles this winter as temperatures drop.
Those at the Cuyahoga County nonprofit Step Forward, which helps distribute aid to those low-income residents at risk of losing their heat or electricity or in need of helping turn it back on, saw a 43% drop in federal funding this year.
"The federal money that came through during the pandemic, it’s either all been spent down or it ran its course and the government ended it," Jackie Boehnlein, Vice President of Community Services, said.
Those cuts involved losing 15 staff members, including eight people who helped with appointments and processing applications. The cuts are expected to impact its winter crisis program, which will start processing applications Nov. 1.
"With our reduction in funding, we estimate we’re going to serve 10,000 less people in 2025 than we did in 2024," Boehnlein said. "There weren’t enough appointments in 2024. What people are experiencing right now with inflation and underemployment and unemployment, need is as high as it’s ever been."
And for those who receive assistance this winter, Boehnlein told News 5 that number is also expected to be lower too.
"They’re going to get the same HEAP (Home Energy Assistance Program) benefit they got last year; what they will not receive is the additional supplemental money and it’s probably a good $200," she said.
That decrease in funding is troublesome for people like Terancita Jones Green. The work has not stopped for this retired police officer, who now helps dozens and dozens of seniors each year fill out the paperwork to get this kind of assistance.
"The need is increased," she said. "If an elder hears you help, they send someone else to you."
She’ll quickly admit the process beforehand wasn’t always easy, especially for those not tech savvy or patient with phone busy signals.
She worries what this lack of funding will mean beyond just the bills.
"[With] everything computer generated, you have no one to talk to and you’re telling me they are short staffed now, it’s going to make crime increase," Jones Green said. "If nothing else is going right, at least you have a roof over your head. When you walk in and you have a fear of your lights, your gas and you know you don't have the means to make the money you need, you don’t have it. We got drama coming."
Boehnlein told News 5 they're receiving about 450 calls a day and they expect that number to rise to 700 calls a day beginning next month.
As a result, they've created an automated phone line 216-480-HEAP (4327) to help answer routine questions.
"Nothing about this is easy," Boehnlein said. "It would take a tremendous amount of staff to handle that call volume. One of the biggest complaints we get is we can't get anyone to call me back and I can't get through. But if we take the individuals processing applications and taking appointments and we take them away [from that] to put them on the phone— now it won't be 10,000 fewer appointments, it will be 20,000 fewer appointments. That's our struggle."
