Help keep Citgo's low-income heating assistance program going this winter!

Published January 05, 2009 @ 10:37AM PT

Citizen's Energy Corporation, the three decade old program that provides low- or no-cost heating assistance to elderly and poor households in the U.S., announced today Citgo's suspension of its free heating oil program, which it has administered through Citizen's since 2005.

Citgo, the national Venezuelan oil company, has provided free oil to "hundreds of thousands of low-income households" in the last three years. The company is citing declining oil prices and the global economic crisis as the reasons behind the program's suspension. And you thought it was just smaller charities taking a hit during this brutal economic period.

Home heating is the biggest single home energy cost - low-income households spend more than one-third of their annual energy costs on heating their homes during the winter. One survey revealed that 70% of the 35 million or so low-income households in the U.S. were cutting back on food to cover the cost of heating their homes.

Citizens Chairman Joe Kennedy is urging past Citgo recipients to contact Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and ask that he not suspend this vital program. If you would like to contact President Hugo Chavez Frias, you can reach his office via an email to the Venezuelan Embassy in the U.S., or at the following address: Palacio de Miraflores, Avenida Urdaneta, Caracas 1010.

I urge you from the chilly climes of Boston not to let this essential program disappear!

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Comments (3)

I'm disabled and moved to upstate NY for the cheaper living. I was just getting by with my small business in internet marketing, but my clients are all hurting now, and can't pay me.

I'm going to need help with my propane bill. I've applied for HEAP but haven't heard back. There's a lot of demand for help and very little to go around, especially in NY State, where there's a 50 Billion Dollar deficit...

So, not only do we need to save this program, we need to created even more like it for other fuels.

Posted by Scott Supak on 01/05/2009 @ 01:11PM PT
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Oh Scott, I'm so sorry to hear this! I agree with you that we need even more programs like this!

Posted by Leigh Graham on 01/05/2009 @ 01:35PM PT
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Bravo Y muchos gracias Senor Presidente Hugo Chavez. Michele

Posted by michele mooney on 01/05/2009 @ 09:13PM PT
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Author

Leigh is a PhD candidate in urban planning at MIT, and a consultant on U.S. Gulf Coast recovery. She sits on the Board of the Allston-Brighton Community Development Corporation in Boston, and has worked with non-profits, foundations and local governments on policies and programs aimed at reducing urban poverty and inequality.