LIBERTY —  The 2022-2023 Home Energy Assistance Program (HEAP) season has kicked off.

“HEAP’s Regular component – offering a one-time payment to help buy fuel to heat a home – begins Tuesday, November 1,” notes Sullivan County Deputy Social Services Commissioner Giselle Steketee. “But the Heating Equipment Repair & Replacement (HERR) and the Heating Equipment Clean & Tune (C&T) components have already begun. They provide funding to have trained professionals inspect, service and even replace furnaces, boilers, stoves and other heating equipment.”

Eligibility and benefits are based on income, household size, the primary heating source, and the presence of a household member who is under age 6, over age 60 or permanently disabled. You may qualify even if you think you won’t, so to apply for a 2022-2023 HEAP grant, go to https://mybenefits.ny.gov/mybenefits/begin (on or after November 1) or call 845-807-0142.

In-person applications will be accepted at Office for the Aging and the Department of Social Services, but please call ahead to confirm.

Applications can also be obtained from the County’s community partners (please call first):

·Action Toward Independence, 845-794-4228

·Independent Living, 845-794-3322

·Sullivan County Office for the Aging, 845-807-0241