The Recorder’s reporting on the heating oil crisis and the war in Iran hit close to home (“As fuel aid dwindles, Community Action presses Senate to act,” March 21). As mayor, I hear from seniors and working families every day who are struggling to keep their homes warm.
This winter was brutal. The cold came early, stayed long, and forced Greenfield families to burn through their heating assistance well before spring. Community Action Pioneer Valley and the community action agencies across Massachusetts that administer the LIHEAP — the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program — have been doing extraordinary work. They deserve our profound thanks and support.
The federal funding CAPV and other community action groups distribute exists because of U.S. Senator Ed Markey’s advocacy, who fought and secured $146 million in LIHEAP funding for Massachusetts in December. For senior citizens on fixed incomes and low-income families in Greenfield – across Franklin County – that funding is not a luxury. It is a lifeline.
And with home heating oil prices surging more than 30 percent in a single week because of the conflict in the Middle East, even that funding is stretched to its limits. As you’ve reported, CAPV estimates that 72 percent of the nearly 8,000 households they serve have almost exhausted their benefits — some down to their last $100. When a tank of oil costs $600 or more, that money does not go far.
The Massachusetts House of Representatives has already passed a $35 million supplemental fuel assistance bill that would refuel an estimated 36,000 households statewide. The state Senate must act swiftly. Every day of delay is another day a family in Greenfield chooses between heat and food on the table.
I urge residents who are struggling to apply for LIHEAP before the April 30 deadline. And I urge our leaders at every level to follow Sen. Ed Markey’s example — fight to protect and expand these programs.
Virginia “Ginny” Desorgher
Mayor of Greenfield