BRATTLEBORO-The Windham County Heat Fund, with the help of a $20,000 matching grant, is kicking off a major fundraising campaign and a benefit concert to support people who have relied on federal fuel assistance that will no longer be available.
The Heat Fund - founded by Richard Davis and Daryl Pillsbury, both Brattleboro residents, in 2005 - was intended to help county residents who fell between the cracks of this social safety net, and the two friends have prided themselves on keeping the organization small and nimble over the years.
In a typical year, Davis said, the heat fund raises about $50,000, and he and Pillsbury have handled its administration the old-fashioned way - by looking the people in need in the eye, talking with them, and connecting them with fuel.
But with federal funding for the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program on the chopping block, the Windham County Heat Fund - which has been a supplemental source of local aid sustained by two volunteers and their force of will - faces the pressure of becoming the primary source of relief for people who can't afford heat this winter.
"My fear is that people are going to try and sign up for heat assistance, and they won't get it," Davis said.
And if this happens, he said, "People are going to die."
He said the match will be used toward the organization's newest initiative: to launch a GoFundMe page with a goal of $100,000.
Every dollar of the first $20,000 donated to the GoFundMe Page will be matched by the trust, doubling donors' contributions. The GoFundMe page is now accepting donations at gofundme.com/f/windham-county-heat-fund.
The heat fund will also hold a concert, "Save a Life," to kick off the start of the fall fundraising effort on Sunday, Sept. 14, at 7 p.m. at the Heart Rose Club (the former Shriners Building), 11 Green St.
Performers will include Daniel Kasnitz, Jennie Reichman, Stan Davis, Duane Young, and the trio of Patty Carpenter, Jeremy Gold, and Verandah Porche.
A looming crisis
This year the need is greater because the Trump administration has cut off the ability for the federal government to provide fuel assistance, with LIHEAP caught in the cuts and chaos that have marked the first months of Trump's term.
Congress approved $25 million for the program, despite the administration's cutting the funding entirely from the Trump budget.
Instead, the federal Department of Health and Human Services, under the leadership of HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., fired all the employees in the Division of Energy Assistance, which administered the LIHEAP program.
"The money has been allocated [by Congress], but there's no one to give it out, and no one in the administration seems to be concerned about that," Davis told The Commons.
Last year, the state of Vermont received $20 million and, according to U.S. Sen. Peter Welch's office, that funding will most likely not be available this year.
Welch, along with U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders and U.S. Rep. Becca Balint, have been pressing unsuccessfully for reinstating the employees.
The program is administered by the state through its Department of Children and Families, which work with regional community action organizations like Southeastern Vermont Community Action (SEVCA) in Westminster and with local fuel vendors.
Davis has found no sense of urgency at the local or state level.
"Nobody seems to know that there's a problem," Davis said. "Normally, the money is released at the end of November. The local fuel companies like Cota & Cota and Dead River say many of their customers are on fuel assistance, and they don't know what's happening."
Davis said he is grateful that the Thompson Trust is stepping up with the matching money for the crowdfunding drive.
The charitable foundation distributes income from the fortune of 19th-century philanthropist and art dealer Thomas Thompson, who established it to help "poor seamstresses, needle-women and shop girls" in Windham County and in Dutchess County, New York.
Courts have loosened those constraints, and the trust more generally funds causes in the two regions, with a special emphasis on health-related projects.
But Davis said that philanthropy can't fully make up for the loss of federal funding.
"There's no way we can make up for this loss," Davis said. "I really don't know why more people aren't worried about this."
For more information, contact the heat fund at wcheatfund@comcast.net.
This News item by Randolph T. Holhut and Jeff Potter was written for The Commons.