Central and Eastern Kentucky
(2009-11-10)
LEXINGTON
(WEKU) -
The Executive Director of Central Kentucky's Community Action Council says his agency has seen a significant increase in the amount of applications this year for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program.
Jack Burch says last year over 4,700 people enrolled in the LIHEAP subsidy program. In the first week of eligibility this year, he says over 2,800 have already signed up.
"The numbers are quite high. We are a bit surprised. We have approved 2,827 households and have already expended about 325,000 dollars income," Burch said.
Burch says different types of individuals and families are filling out applications this year.
"We're of course seeing people that we've seen for a very long time. People with disabilities, or elderly with fixed incomes and situations like that. But we're seeing more and more folks who are in the labor force or have just been laid off. They may have had a very good job paying 15-20 dollars an hour and now they're working retail making 8 dollars an hour."
The deadline to apply is December 11th.
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