Windham County Heat Fund

Twenty Years And The Need Continues

by RDavis | Home & Garden

Twenty years ago Daryl Pillsbury and I wanted to do something to help people struggling to pay home heating bills. The price of fuel was high and we figured that, in a short time, the situation would get better and we could suspend our operations. We had no idea what we were getting into when we started the Windham County Heat Fund.

Over the years we have learned that the price of heating fuel has only a little to do with people’s ability to pay for it. There are a host of factors feeding into the situation. Global and national politics enter into the mix. The gap between the have’s and the have-not’s is wider than ever, and as long as that continues more and more people will struggle to pay for life’s necessities.
Wages have not kept up with the rate of growth of the economy and too many people who are making their best efforts to stay above water have to have two or three jobs and they still often teeter on the brink of homelessness.

Windham County Heat Fund Update

by RDavis | Activism

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.

The Heating Season Is Near

by RDavis | Town News

Some people welcome the cold weather because they enjoy winter sports. Finding some joy in winter is a good thing but there is no joy in thinking about how much it will cost to heat our homes. The average price of a gallon fuel in Vermont as of September is: $5.53 for kerosene, $4.63 for #2 fuel oil and $3.03 for propane. That will strain the pocketbook of most of us and there will too many people who will be on the verge of freezing to death when they have to decide how to pay for rent, medicine and heat in an economy that has not been kind to those who are trying to simply survive and get by.

Nineteen years ago Daryl Pillsbury and I started the Windham County Heat Fund because we thought the price of heating fuel was going to put too many of our vulnerable friends and neighbors in harm’s way during the heating season. We figured we could abandon our project in a few years after the price of fuel dropped.

Windham County Heat Fund Update

by RDavis | Living

On behalf of some of Windham County’s more vulnerable residents the Windham County Heat Fund would like to thank our generous community for support of our efforts this year. The Windham County Heat Fund was created in 2005 by Richard Davis and Daryl Pillsbury to help people in Windham County Vermont who were not able to buy enough heating fuel to make it through the winter. In 2010 the Heat Fund was incorporated as an IRS 501 C 3 non-profit entity. At the time, oil prices were escalating and we thought our efforts would only be needed for a year or two.

Over the years, we have come to learn that there is a constant need to supplement state and federal fuel assistance programs for those who fall through the cracks and for those who run out of fuel assistance allotments.

Heat Fund Appeal

by RDavis | Business

It’s the time of year again when the Windham County Heat Fund reminds all of the generous people in the county that our less fortunate friends and neighbors will need your help once again as we approach another heating season.

The Windham County Heat Fund was created in 2005 by Richard Davis and me to help people in Windham County Vermont who were not able to buy enough heating fuel to make it through the winter. In 2010 the Heat Fund was incorporated as an IRS 501 C 3 non-profit entity. At the time, oil prices were escalating and we thought our efforts would only be needed for a year or two.