Joshua's House

Hi All

We have a serious shortage of money -- not that that is anything new for most people.

In addition to our annual fundraising letter that is posted on the web also this is the shorter version of the message is below, in lieu of that attachment.

The bottom line is we need to raise $120,000 that will help only 200 families in the NEK receive 3/4th of tank of oil/or propane (based on $3.49 for oil at 175 gals = $610~~~~ and cost of propane is a bit less than oil if you heat by propane) We also know that currently fuel assistance will only provide about a 1/2 tank since appropriations were cut nearly in half (see the information below) - that leaves many of our families who are living on less than $15,000 a year per household trying to pay for the other 2 -3 tanks it takes to heat a small house or apartment for the winter. A very tough situation!

So this email is a request for any donation you can make. Your tax-deductible Donations should be payable to Joshua House Inc mailed to us at P O Box 186 Irasburg, VT 05845 and please list which county you are from Essex, Caledonia, or Orleans -

You can also use our paypal account at www.joshuahousevt.org

Thank you for whatever you can do
God Bless, Casey

Winter's Coming
Well those cool August nights are starting to creep in and this morning coming over Ap-Gap at Mad River Glen I saw some leaves changing color. You know what that means??? Time to strap yourself into the LIHEAP funding rollercoaster!!! And as of August 1 ESD has received well over half of the 42,000 fuel applications and reviews that we will process for this winter's LIHEAP eligibility.

Federal LIHEAP Funding
The Obama Administration tabled a budget months ago with a 50% cut in LIHEAP funding based on lower fuel prices. HHS Secretary Sebelius in early May testimony acknowledged the predicted price drop did not occur and the administration would "revisit the figure." Based on the Obama budget Vermont's base LIHEAP block grant will fall from $25.6M to $11.6M (a 55% cut based on the funding formulas).
Budget mark-ups won't start until after Labor Day – so we don't have a preliminary read on where members of congress stand on the national funding level. However, the proposed Obama budget cut established a major road block. To dismantle that road block the Administration requires current price data to aid their re-examination of the market assumptions made in spring 2010 (when they formulated their FFY2012 budget proposal).

VT's Average LIHEAP Benefit & Energy Burden
Like Vermont, most NE states are predicting home heating fuel at $4.00 per gallon. The average Vermont household uses 764 gallons in the winter at a projected cost of $3,056. The average full season fuel liability benefit will be $400 compared to $866 last winter. For an elderly widow living on less than $800 of monthly social security benefits, the balance of $2,656 will consume at least ¼ of her fixed income. (Her name is Flora and earlier this week I reviewed her eligibility with a gross monthly SS income is $764.)

Crisis Fuel Assistance
At this time my LIHEAP budget for FFY2012 contains the following line items:
Crisis Fuel Benefits $2,500,000
Crisis Fuel Direct Service $450,000 (please don't call it "Admin")
Crisis Fuel After-Hours $65,000 (services only – not benefits)


Richard Moffi, Fuel Assistance Program Chief
Waterbury, Vermont
802-241-1097
richard.moffi@ahs.state.vt.us