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Pocono News Section
Emergency Assistance Money is Gone
Emergency Assistance Money is Gone - Tuesday, March 10, 2009 at 3:33PM EST
Reported by: Laurie Monteforte
Tuesday, Mar 10, 2009 @ 03:33pm EST
EAST STROUDSBURG, MONROE COUNTY - The Governor has announced he is expanding low income heating assistance by about $6 million. Some say while that's nice, he's forgetting about another group of people who need cold weather energy help.
People who need emergency furnace repairs don't know where to turn. There are at least five families on an emergency waiting list in Monroe County.
The hum of the furnace might seem like a nuisance. But Randy Miller will tell you, it's much more of a nuisance when the furnace makes no noise at all. He said, "We called to have a guy come down and fix it, he condemned it."
The Miller family furnace broke in December. Randy lives with his elderly mother and they have trouble paying the bills. So for more than a week they tried to keep warm by huddling around electric heaters. Randy said, "It ain't safe but we had to make do."
Then they learned about a special program through the Monroe County Redevelopment Authority. It helps people in crisis fix their heating systems. "They come down and they gave us a new furnace, hooked it up," said Randy.
During that very cold week and a half the family's pipes froze and burst. So in addition to getting a new furnace, the authority also helped replace the family's plumbing. Randy said, "I'm grateful. I really appreciate it. And it's a good organization."
But for now, that organization can't help any more families like the Millers. The Redevelopment Authority ran out of emergency furnace repair money.
"There's still a waiting log of people out there who we haven't served," said Raymond Guernsey the Executive Director of the Redevelopment Authority. He asked the state government to release more money for the program.
Guernsey said, "I understand they've got a real problem. It's a very short year. It's a difficult, unusual time for all of us."
It's a tough time but Guernsey said no one should be left in the cold.
The Redevelopment Authority tells us it has requested about $4 million it believes the federal government gave the state for emergency heating programs.
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