O&R Fund Helps Customers with Emergency Home-Heating Needs

PEARL RIVER, NY — Now open for the winter heating season, O&R’s The Neighbor Fund provides critical home-heating assistance for those O&R customers who find themselves unable to pay their home-heating fuel bills because of emergency financial conditions.

The Neighbor Fund provides a one-time grant for electric customers of $250 and for heating fuel customers of $250.

Grants from The Neighbor Fund are awarded to pay for home energy costs no matter what type of fuel is used: electricity, oil, natural gas, propane, wood or coal. The grant money does not have to be repaid, and there are no age limits or income guidelines to be met.

To qualify for such a grant, individuals must have an account with O&R, and must already have exhausted all governmental resources available for financial assistance. They must also provide supporting documentation of emergency/crisis circumstances (medical bills, unemployment notification, etc.)

The Salvation Army administers The Neighbor Fund program, evaluates The Neighbor Fund applications and makes the grants.

Since 1983, the Fund has awarded approximately $4 million in grants to about 15,000 households enduring financial hardship.

Last year, O&R made 96 grants totaling $52,000.Half that grant total comes from O&R customers’ contributions. That amount is matched dollar-for-dollar by the shareholders of Consolidated Edison, Inc., O&R’s parent company.

If you need The Neighbor Fund’s assistance, please contact The Salvation Army offices in Spring Valley (845-352-9577), Middletown (845-343-0821) or Port Jervis (845-856-3214) or The Neighbor Fund community outreach centers at RCDC (845-352-1400), Kiryas Joel Social Services (845-783-7656), Village of Kiryas Joel Community Service (845-783-8300) and the Community Outreach Center at (845-356-9600) or Rockland Community Action (WestCap) (845-728-0688).

Patch file photo