“I don’t cook with the oven, I leave the door open,’’ he said. “It’s sad I have to live like this. I do a lot of praying.’’
The $5 billion federal Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program has been slashed this year to less than $2 billion. For Massachusetts, that translates to a reduction of 58 percent, from $183 million to about $77 million.
The funds are distributed by the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development, which determines a recipient’s eligibility for aid by his or her base income and household size.
Following the federal cuts, recipients who previously received $1,090 for home heating oil now qualify for $675 worth of fuel, which advocates like Jon Carlson compare at today’s prices to about a half a tank of oil. People who received the maximum benefit of $790 for natural gas or electric heating assistance last year will have to make do with $285 this time around, he said.
“What it means is the poorest of the poor have no chance of staying warm,’’ said Carlson, who is executive director of Self Help Inc., a nonprofit agency based in Brockton that serves 30 communities from Canton and Dedham to Randolph and Whitman. It is one of 22 agencies statewide that distributes the aid.
In fiscal 2010, Self Help received more than $14 million; last year it got about $13.8 million, and this year the allocation was $5.8 million, Carlson said.
As just one example of widespread need, he said, Brockton has more than 5,000 eligible households. He and a number of colleagues in other nonprofits are talking with state lawmakers to try and find a local solution to the funding shortfall.
“If more funds aren’t awarded, it could have a catastrophic impact on some of our clients,’’ Carlson said. “Heat is a basic requirement, and people will do almost anything to stay warm. There could be a tragedy that might have been avoided if something doesn’t change.’’
