Emergency Heating Benefit Available After the New Year

Officials in Sullivan County are advising residents that the Home Energy Assistance Program's Emergency Benefit component will open and begin accepting applications on January 4, 2021.

The emergency benefits are available to assist eligible households with a heating emergency or a heat-related domestic emergency. Regular component benefits if available must be utilized first to resolve heating emergencies for eligible households.

Included in the emergency benefits are temporary relocation for housing emergencies, and propane tank deposits to obtain new propane vendors, but only in emergency situations, such as relocation due to eviction or if the home is deemed uninhabitable.

All applicants for the emergency benefit may apply by phone or in person, unfortunately NOT via the MyBenefits web portal. A face-to-face interview is not required, and applications can be completed over the phone by calling (845) 807-0142.

*Please call before coming to the Department of Family Services in Liberty, as offices are still operating on a limited-access basis.

The applicant must be facing a heating emergency or heat-related domestic emergency under one or more of the following:

• Utility service is terminated or is scheduled for termination
• Electric utility service necessary to operate the primary heating equipment is terminated or scheduled to be terminated.
• Without heating fuel, meaning less than a one-quarter tank of oil, kerosene, or propane, or less than a ten-day supply of other heating fuels.

To be eligible for consideration, the applicant must be the customer of record for the utility or deliverable fuel account. For more information regarding HEAP benefits, you can call (845) 807-0142.