If your family is at risk of losing water service inside of your home a new temporary assistance program could help in paying your bills.
The Pennsylvania Department of Human Services is rolling out their Low-Income Household Water Assistance Program, or LIHWAP, for the second time since its start. The program provides temporary assistance to households that need help with water bills or who may lose water service.
“Eligible households can receive one crisis grant for drinking water service and one crisis grant for wastewater service of up to 2500$ each," said Brandon Cwalina, press secretary for the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services. "We consider crisis situations to be past due water bills, an impending termination of a utility service, having received a notice that your water service will be shut off in the next 60 days.”
The program started in January last year and uses federal funds from the American Rescue Plan Act. The DHS tells us that due to the program’s success the commonwealth was able to secure new funding for this year.
“Last year Pennsylvania received about 43 million dollars for the federal government and during the season while LIHWAP was open we received more than 129 thousand applications for grants, and we assisted more than 44 thousand households," said Cwalina.
The DHS also tells us that 90 percent of Pennsylvanians that received the grant last year were at risk of having their water disconnected due to past due bills.
“Any Pennsylvanian who might be at risk of losing their drinking water or wastewater services should apply to the department of human services right away," said Cwalina. "You don’t have to know your eligibility up front, we handle that for you. Applications can be submitted online at our website. They can apply over the phone, by calling our customer service center at 1-877-395-8930, and they can also visit their local county assistance office.”
Applications will be open until August 11th.
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