Human Needs Report Article

The Human Needs Report is the Coalition on Human Needs' newsletter on national policy issues affecting low-income and vulnerable populations. It is published every other week while Congress is in session.

ACORN: DC Wins $1 Million for Low-income Heating and Energy Assistance (3/12/04)

With Federal LIHEAP dollars for District families exhausted, in recent weeks DC ACORN members have been organizing a series of actions to demand that Mayor Anthony Williams allocate funds from the District's "rainy day fund" to help low-income families keep their heat and electricity on. In response, ACORN members won a March 5 meeting with City Administrator Robert Bobb and representatives from the Mayor's office where Bobb committed $1 million in funds to the DC Energy Office, the agency that manages LIHEAP dollars in the District, to help thousands of low-income DC residents pay their utilities bills.

The full $1 million was released to the DC Energy Office on March 12. To distribute these funds, every Thursday the DC Energy Office is providing staff at DC ACORN's newly created Utilities Service Center to help low-income families receive much-needed utilities assistance. In addition, as part of a previous campaign win, Washington Gas is providing a shut-off prevention program one day per week through the ACORN Utilities Service Center. Each week, Washington Gas representatives help families with overdue bills to develop agreements to avoid shutoff or have their service turned back on.