Feds Send Cold Cash To Help With Heat Surprise Federal Funds Bolster Local Aid Program

The federal government is mailing some unexpected cash to Spokane County this winter to warm families shivering inside cold homes.

Up to 3,100 Spokane households will now receive help paying peak-season heating bills.

That’s 1,500 more families than anticipated, but still far fewer than were helped last winter.

Energy assistance is so coveted by poor families that when the assistance was first offered last month, the influx of calls overwhelmed a phone bank.

With the surprise infusion of federal money, Spokane’s total aid this winter will be $1.1 million, slightly more than it received last winter.

New guidelines governing the program direct more money to families, but fewer households are helped.

About 9,000 families received aid last year.

Household income and expenses are examined when determining who gets aid and how much. For example, a family of four can’t have an income much above $500 a month.

On average, Spokane families qualifying for assistance receive a total of $371. Last winter, the average was $234.

The Spokane Neighborhood Action Programs is bracing for a deluge of calls when it makes the new cash available on Jan. 16. The last time it offered such assistance, the agency got 400 calls a day.

SNAP’s Margaret Belote said many families are juggling bills this time of year - paying the heat one month, the rent the next.

Household budgets tighten as the weather turns icy, Belote said, because many poor families live in drafty homes without insulation.

“They could have to go without heat or choose not to eat or not to pay the rent,” she said. “That’s what a lot of them do, until they get the energy assistance.”

SNAP’s programs include forums advising people how to insulate and improve energy efficiency.

, DataTimes