Help with your heating bill is available

Chicago - Baby, it's cold outside! But if you think you think it is painful now, just wait until your next heating bill arrives!!

For thousands of seniors, and working families across Cook County, that next heating bill could mean a real budget crisis: less food in the house; no medicine this week, or making other sacrifices.

Fortunately, help is available from energy assistance programs administered by CEDA, the Community and Economic Development Association of Cook County.

"We hear these situations every year," said Harold Rice, president and CEO of CEDA. "There is an older adult who was doing without basic necessities, or a working mom who couldn't take a sick day because she needed to catch up her bills." People like these never realized they qualified for help, Rice said. "They are so used to doing on their own, they don't know CEDA is here to help."

CEDA, with partner sites across Chicago and the suburbs, helps more than 300,000 people each year with federal utility assistance to eligible bill-payers.

The federal Low-Income Household Energy Assistance Program, or LIHEAP, provides a one-time benefit paid on the household's utility bill. Applicants qualify if the monthly income is below the guidelines. For example, a family of four will qualify if 30-day gross income is below $3,038. A single person below $1,485 monthly income is eligible.

Visit cedaorg.net or call (800) 571-2332 to see if you qualify and to find an intake site near you.