Efforts help avert hard times – for now
Toolbox
By Mel Huff Times Argus Staff - Published: November 22, 2008
BERLIN – Vermont has dodged a bullet – temporarily. That was the conclusion of representatives to the Central Vermont Food, Fuel and Transportation Coalition who met this week to discuss their winter preparedness.
When the group formed last spring, several directors of human services agencies were anticipating that the winter would bring a "Katrina for Vermont."
Although gasoline and fuel oil prices have fallen since their highs in early summer, no one present considered the decline to be anything other than a temporary reprieve. And members agreed that the planning had an invaluable outcome: forming partnerships that previously didn't exist among "safety net" providers.
This week's news would have sounded worse if it had not fallen short of a full-blown emergency.
Don Mandelkorn, a field services director from the Agency of Human Services said, "This … should provide some information to us that this is not just a low-income problem, that it's beginning to reach into working, lower-middle, middle class. These are people that actually own homes. It's not just 113 homes, it's 113 families."
While the price of fuel has come down, members noted that food prices remain high. Mandelkorn called attention to two sets of state rule changes that have expanded eligibility for food stamps. One set has already taken effect and the other will go into effect Jan. 1. That means people who previously applied for food stamps and were turned down might qualify now. An eligibility calculator can be found at http://www.vermontfoodhelp.com/
A number of the coalition's initiatives have been aimed at helping people keep warm. One committee made a DVD of a weatherization workshop held in Hardwick; copies are in libraries and at Green Mountain United Way. Community Action has put on 70 weatherization workshops, and the demand has been so great that Hal Cohen, the council's executive director, said he thought they might exceed 100. The average number of people at the workshops has been around 35 or 40.
Even though the amount of money in the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, or LIHEAP, doubled this year and the eligibility guidelines were expanded, many service providers expressed concern about what will happen to people whose income barely exceeds the cutoff point. Private groups, including the Barre Rotary Club and area churches, have been raising money to help those people with fuel costs.
Cohen observed that the demand for help with heating expenses is already high, even though winter is just beginning. Community Action's crisis fuel program doesn't begin until Nov. 24, he said, "but a lot of people are cold right now. We have some discretionary funds, and we just blew through them."
Several members described energy co-ops and buyers' clubs in other counties that offer heating oil at discounted prices. The coalition will look into the possibility of making similar choices available in central Vermont.
Jeffrey Hunsberger, director of the Vermont Department of Health's Barre district, urged raising awareness about individual emergency planning. (Hunsberger is also head of Central Vermont's Local Emergency Planning Committee.)
He said people need to understand the importance of keeping a store of food on hand, as well as emergency supplies and pet food for dogs and cats. Families should also have a plan for picking up children from day care or school when there's no way of communicating with them. A list of a two-week stash of supplies for a family of four can be found at the Health Departments pandemic flu site: http://healthvermont.gov/panflu/documents/TTL-shoppinglist-combined.pdf
"When I think about the reality for the people that we're all serving, I realize how unpredictable their lives are – and our lives are, as well," said Beth Stern, the executive director of the Central Vermont Council on Aging. "There's very little normalcy from day to day for people that are living on the edge.
"People are frightened at all economic levels, and (they're) wondering what's going to happen tomorrow, next week, next year. For the people that we serve, there's really very little difference between good times and bad times," she observed.
The struggling economy makes it harder for those trying to maintain the safety net to keep it from deteriorating, Stern noted. "Obama's catch-phrase of 'Yes, we can,' is appropriate here," she said, but she qualified his words. "I want to alter that to say, 'Together we will continue to do whatever we can to help the people who are struggling in these economic times.'"
6