A cut in federal funding means low-income Howard County residents will get less help with their heating costs this winter than they did last winter.
Howard lost about 14 percent of its budget for fuel assistance when the federal government cut funding for the Maryland Energy Assistance Program (MEAP) by $750,000 in September. The average one-time benefit in this county will drop from $295 to $240.
"It's only going to get worse," said Sandra Brown, state director of MEAP. "Cutting social programs is the thing to do now. The bottom line is people will have to come up with some of it themselves."
In Howard County, 1,044 families have applied for MEAP this winter. Of those, 671 have qualified. Last year, 1,700 families applied for assistance and 1,490 qualified.
The program helps people such as Leah Tucker, 33, who lives with her 12-year-old daughter in a drafty trailer in the Deep Run Mobile Home Park in Elkridge.
Ms. Tucker was laid off from her secretarial job in September because the sprinkler company for which she worked cut its work force. She hasn't been able to find another job, and her only income is child support and unemployment benefits.
Meanwhile, her $160- to $170-a-month heating bills have sometimes forced her to cut the heat to 65 degrees on even the chilliest nights -- making her home uncomfortable.
"We froze, especially during the cold days," Ms. Tucker said. "It's pretty rough. We wonder sometimes how we're going to make it."
So she turned to the Howard County Community Action Council, a Columbia-based nonprofit organization that helps low-income people and administers the MEAP program.
Today, as part of Action Council's winter assistance programs, the organization will also weatherize Ms. Tucker's home by sealing air leaks to help reduce her heating bills.
The weatherization program is available to qualified county residents in either their own houses or rental property. Landlords are required to pay 25 percent of the weatherization costs.
As the colder weather comes during the early part of 1995, the agency is expecting to see more people like Ms. Tucker, says Larry Hunt, program coordinator for the Community Action Council.
"I think the economy is just not that good," he said. "A lot of people are out of work. This year, we're seeing a number of new applicants."
In addition to the MEAP and weatherization programs, Community Action offers assistance through its Fuel Fund, paid for through private donations and the Baltimore Gas and Electric Co.
Eligibility for MEAP, the weatherization program and the Fuel Fund is based on monthly household income. The standards are:
* One-person household maximum monthly income: $920.
* Two-person household maximum monthly income: $1,230.
* Three-person household maximum monthly income: $1,540.
* Four-person household maximum monthly income: $1,850.
* Five-person household maximum monthly income: $2,160.
* Six-person household maximum monthly income: $2,470.
Statewide last year, 92,281 families qualified for fuel aid. More than 64,100 already have applied this year.
For information about fuel assistance from the Fuel Fund or the Maryland Energy Assistance Program, contact the Community Action Council at 313-6440.