Windham County Heat Fund Update

Blog#206- 6/29/24

HEAT FUND UPDATE
By
Richard Davis

The Windham County Heat Fund is strong and thriving as we move into the 20th year of the non-profit’s life at the beginning of the next heating season. That might seem like good news, but when Daryl Pilsbury and I started the organization we thought it would only be needed for a few years. We had no clue how much people were suffering at the lower end of the economic scale and we were under the delusion that the cost of heating fuel was the most important factor putting pressure on needy people and families.

We have been given a glimpse into the complexity of people’s lives and the pictures are not pretty. The heat fund has been a godsend to many people who might have suffered through a winter living in one room with the thermostat at 50 degrees. Then there are the families who really can’t make ends meet at the end of the month but somehow find a way to pay rent and buy food but they have to put heating fuel at the bottom of the list.

Then there are those people who thought they were doing well until they got a diagnosis of cancer. They often lose their jobs and their health insurance. When the got their diagnosis they thought their lives couldn’t get any worse.. Then they found out they couldn’t pay for treatment and they couldn’t pay their rent. Imagine what it’s like for a person who has an aggressive cancer eating away at them, or a severe chronic illness to have to live on the streets. It happens; and more often than you might think.

A lot of people complain about the visibility of homeless people in our community. Sure there are bad people everywhere and there may be a higher concentration of criminals, drug addicts and mentally ill people among the homeless. But they are still people. I challenge anyone to actually talk to one of these people that they would like to not see and ask them how they ended up in such a horrible situation. These people are part of our community and if we can learn who they are we might be able to help them as well as ourselves deal better with a bad situation.

We like to believe that the heat fund prevents a few people from ending up on the street. Last year we provided fuel to 119 individuals and families and we paid out $64,802 to local fuel dealers. All of our payments go directly to fuel dealers and we rely on their front end staff as well as local human service organizations such as SEVCA to help us understand who we are helping and also why.

The heat fund raised $46,679 but we had enough surplus from the previous year to cover the need last year. Local donors, businesses, churches and granting organizations have been incredibly generous to the fund and we raise all of our money without a web site, without mailing solicitations and without spending very much on overhead.

Our biggest and only expenses last year was $60 for a software upgrade of one of the programs we frequently use. Daryl and I pay for all postage and other minor expenses.

We would like to thanks local businesses. Clear Solutions, Northeast Labs, the local Postal Union, Insight Mediation and Broad Brook Grange have been loyal supporters of the heat fund over the years. The Brattleboro Elks and the Sunrise Rotary have provided us with a solid base of continuing support.

Local churches have also been an important part of our donor base. United Methodist Church, St Michaels’ Episcopal Church, the Guilford Community Church and the First United Church have dedicated funds over many years.

The Bermil Foundation, the Baker Sisters Foundation, the Snyder-Coffey Foundation and the Willard Trust have been extremely generous donors. We also note the passing of one of our long-time donor families. Bob and Booie Fagelson supported us with their generosity over many years. We will miss their humanity and their dedication to the well-being of people in our community.