By Joanne Bailey-Boorsma
WKTV Managing Editor
joanne@wktv.org
On average, households will pay 12.7 percent more for home heating this winter, according to the National Energy Assistance Directors’ Association (NEADA), which means more people may struggle to pay their heating bills.
With that in mind, the Kent County Community Action will bring back its Walk for Warmth event, designed to raise awareness and funds for heating fuel assistance programs.
“All of the money raised from this event will go straight to people who need help in keeping their utilities on,” said Gustavo Perez, the director of the Kent County Community Action.
The Walk for Warmth is a statewide event with local communities usually hosting the walk in February. The Ottawa County Community Action Agency hosted its event at the beginning of February. The Kent County Walk for Warmth is set for March 4. Participants will meat at 8:30 a.m. at the Kent County Community Action (KCCA) offices, 121 Martin Luther King Jr. St., Suite 110. The walk starts at 9 a.m. and will travel the block around the KCCA offices, which is Martin Luther king Jr. Street to Sheldon Avenue to Sycamore Street to Jefferson Avenue.
According to a recent report from NEADA, the national rate of utility arrearages (the amount of money families are behind on their electric and gas bills) is at about $16.6 billion since the end of the last winter season. About 20.8 million households, that is about one out of six, owed an average of $791. This is up slightly from June 2022 when the total arrearage place stood at about $16.3 billion and the average amount owed was about $783.
Closer to home, Perez said he is still compiling the 2022 numbers however, in 2021, Kent County Community Action helped more than 4,000 houses with gas, electric and water.
The Kent County Community Action provides a number of programs to Kent County residents, one of which is the Utility Assistance Program. Residents do need to qualify for the assistance.
In the past, when people did no qualify, Walk for Warmth funds were used, however; due to the COVID pandemic, KCCA was not able to host the walk for the past two years with the Walk for Warmth fund currently unavailable to assist homeowners.
“What this allows is for raised funds to help close the gap for those who cannot keep the utilities on in their homes,” Perez said.
The goal for this year’s event is to assistant more than 20 households, which means the 2023 Walk for Warmth would need to raise around $10,000.
“We are working with people who are facing shut-off, so we are only helping them get caught up so they can keep the heat on,” Perez said. “We are not paying for a single home’s heat for a year, but only the amount to make sure the heat does not get turned off.”
Those interested in participating in the walk or donating can register online at accesskent.com/departemtns/communityaction/walk_for_warmth.htm or click here.
