In a recent article, I talked about the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), a federally-funded program that will be helping low-income families stay warm during the winter. Available funds are given by Congress to local state agencies. These funds are also limited and first come-first serve. This obviously means some people will not be able to receive aid for heating this winter. One such local agency that is having trouble with receiving funds is Tallatoona CAP.
Tallatoona CAP serves the western suburbs of Atlanta, as well as portions of northwest Georgia. This area includes Bartow, Cobb, Douglas, Floyd, Gordon, Haralson, Paulding, and Polk Counties, a region with well over a million residents. Tallatoona aids in supplying low-income families with heating and home weatherization, as well as preschool and health/nutritional services in many of its counties. Tallatoona also supplies employment opportunities, such as teaching and weatherization technician.
December 1 was the first day LIHEAP funds were supposed to be available. Unfortunately, Congress did not release funds to Tallatoona CAP. Tallatoona CAP’s website updated on December 22 and said they still have not received the funding. The program typically helps over twenty thousand low-income families in northwest Georgia, and many people could be sitting in the cold if the funds are not received. Winter has been relatively mild so far, but January and February are the historically cold months. Even in Georgia, snow is not an uncommon sight during the early months of the year.
Tallatoona CAP states that local newspaper and radio will be notified when funding is available. The organization urges people in northwestern Georgia to keep checking in with their website, at www.tallatoonacap.org. It also supplies two phone numbers, toll-free for 706 area code, at (770) 383-3292 and (770) 773-7730.
Unfortunately, this is a drawback to federal programs run at the state level. Applications cannot be submitted to the federal government, but the federal government controls how much money is available and who gets it. Consider yourself lucky if you get help from LIHEAP this winter, but consider yourself even luckier if you don’t need help or if you are close with somebody who can help you out financially. In the meantime, if you do need help in northwestern Georgia or in any other state, contact a social worker or your local state agency. Waiting around for help from the federal government may take too long, and the earlier you make contact, the more likely action will take place.
For other Georgia counties not served by Tallatoona CAP, contact the Georgia Energy Assistance Program to find your closest provider.
He played clarinet for the Marching Tar Heels in 2005 and 2006. He also volunteered for STV, the student-run television station at UNC-Chapel Hill, in the spring of 2010. He shot video, wrote scripts, and acted for “Off the Cuff,” UNC’s longest running sketch comedy show. He has the rare distinction of having lived in a dorm all four years of his undergraduate college career. He was also on Franklin Street on the night of April 4, 2009. His future plans are to pursue a master’s degree in journalism and to one day work for the media as a sports journalist or broadcaster.
Being one of eight children, David realizes finance is an important topic to everyone, regardless of his/her knowledge of the subject. His interests are in personal finance, budgeting, and savings.
In his spare time, David enjoys watching sports and standup comedy, as well as doing crossword puzzles and writing in the first person. He also thoroughly enjoys trivia and, one day, hopes to participate on the game show Jeopardy!, where he will try to break Ken Jennings’ 74-game win streak.
- FAFSA Day is Fourth Saturday in February - February 7, 2015
- Best way to shop for Christmas - November 9, 2014
- The rules for personal bad debt write-offs - November 5, 2014