GAINESVILLE - Pending the availability of federal funds, certain households in 15 northeast Georgia counties served by Gainesville-based Ninth District Opportunity may apply for assistance with home heating bills beginning November 1.
To be eligible, every household member must be 65 or older - or every member must be completely unable to leave the home due to health reasons.
The Georgia Department of Human Services will help pay heating costs for gas, electricity, coal or kerosene. One time payments will be made by checks issued to the home energy suppliers on behalf of eligible households. Eligibility for the program is based on the income of everyone living in the home. All eligible households must be responsible for their home heating bill.
When applying for assistance, the applicant must provide verification of citizenship and verification of age for everyone in the home, verification of all household income received within the past 30 days (check stubs, public assistance checks, unemployment checks, etc.), verification of Social Security Numbers for everyone in the home, and the most recent home heating bill.
Qualifying households can receive a one-time payment of up to $350 for their primary heating source. The check will be sent to the supplier, not to individuals.
Depending on the availability of funds, the regular program will open to the general public on December 2.
Interested applicants should contact NDO after 8:30 a.m. by telephone on the date of the program they qualify for. No walk-ins. Additional information will be made available online at www.ndo.org.
These are the numbers for each county served by the office:
Hall - 770-534-8826
Banks - 706-677-3921
Barrow 770-536-3351
Clarke 800-822-0179
Dawson 706-265-3744
Forsyth 770-889-9420
Franklin 706-384-3495
Habersham 706-778-0075
Jackson 706-677-0028
Lumpkin 706-864-4637
Rabun 706-782-3704
Stephens 706-886-0211
Towns 706-896-4783
Union 706-745-6596
White -706-865-6220