DAYTON — Miami Valley Community Action Partnership and Ohio Development Services Agency will help Ohioans stay warm during the cold winter months.

The Home Energy Assistance Winter Crisis Program provides eligible Ohioans heating assistance if they are disconnected from their heating source, threatened with disconnection or if they have less than 25 percent supply of bulk fuel. The program runs from Nov. 1, 2018 until March 31, 2019.

“Working with Miami Valley CAP we’re helping Ohioans manage their energy costs this winter,”said David Goodman, director of the Ohio Development Services Agency.

More than 4,800 families were assisted through the Home Energy Assistance Winter Crisis Program in Darke, Preble, Greene and Montgomery counties last year. From November 2017–March 2018, more than 97,816 Ohioans were helped by the program statewide.

“Miami Valley CAP is prepared to assist our Greene, Preble, Darke and Montgomery County customers with their heating needs this winter,” said Keelie Gustin, director of energy assistance programs at Miami Valley CAP. “As the cold weather begins to trickle in, we encourage Greene, Preble and Darke County residents to utilize our new automated scheduling system to schedule an appointment at our county locations. After-hours appointments are available by calling our office directly.”

Montgomery County residents also should use the 937-514-4777 number to schedule or visit the Miami Valley Community Action Partnership website to utilize the online scheduler. To better assist clients, appointments are available at the Montgomery County Office between 8 a.m. and 6:30 p.m., Monday through Friday.

Households interested in the Winter Crisis Program must schedule a face-to-face appointment at Miami Valley CAP. Customers must bring the following items to their appointment:

• proof of income (copies of pay stubs)

• copies of their most recent energy bills

• list of all household members with Social Security numbers and birth dates

• proof of U.S. citizenship/legal residency for all household members

Examples of documents that are accepted to prove citizenship/legal residency include: a Social Security Card, birth certificate, U.S. Passport, naturalization paper/certification of citizenship,permanent VISA and INS ID Card.

A checklist of required documents is available at the Miami Valley Community Action Partnership website.

Per the Ohio Development Services Agency, HEAP applications will only be accepted through March 31, 2019. All applications must be submitted by this date for processing.

As a reminder, regulated utility companies will allow one appointment hold, per season, per household, if customers are scheduled for disconnection before they can obtain an appointment. This hold cannot be extended and failure to attend a scheduled appointment may result in utility disconnection. Individuals’ appointment hold will be placed on their electric/natural gas account upon entering their account numbers via Miami Valley Community Action Partnership’sautomated scheduler. For time-sensitive appointment holds (within one or two days of disconnect), call a local office directly.