LIHEAP Outreach Scheduled for This Week

For many area households, energy costs place a severe and continuing stress on a family's budget. In some instances, the household is forced to make painful decisions regarding which bills to pay and which necessities to survive without. The Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) is designed to help eligible low income households pay for energy service. With LIHEAP, a benefit is paid directly to the utility companies on behalf of eligible households, or directly to renters if the utility costs are included in their rent.

For the time being, our Health and Human Services team will be providing appointments at various community sites to help individuals apply for LIHEAP. To help the process run more smoothly and make the best use of everyone's time, we're making a few small changes to how our LIHEAP outreach sessions will work.

Here are details for this week:

Location: Northwest Community Center
Dates: Wednesday, November 5 and Thursday, November 6
Sign-ups begin: 8:45 a.m.
Appointments begin: 9 a.m.

We will take 50 appointments each day. Once all 50 slots are filled, sign-ups will close for the day. Everyone who receives an appointment will be given an approximate wait time, those with the longest waits, will be allowed to leave and return for their appointment, so you don't need to wait in line for hours.

We understand that times are stressful and tensions may be high, but we ask that everyone treat staff and fellow residents with patience and respect. Our team is working hard to serve an overwhelming number of households as effectively and efficiently as possible. Any threatening, aggressive or disrespectful language or actions will not be tolerated, and individuals who engage in such behavior will be asked to leave.

Our goal is to make sure every person we meet with will have their full and complete LIHEAP application submitted and approved as quickly as possible. Thank you for your patience and cooperation as we work to make this process smoother and more efficient for everyone! However, the process is subject to change without notice.

We may modify this process over the next few weeks-including designating certain outreach dates only for disconnected applicants. Please check back for updates.

LIHEAP is a program of the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity Office of Energy Assistance funded through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and administered locally by the City of Rockford Health and Human Services Department, a Community Action Agency.