{"id":1040,"date":"2020-12-18T11:07:09","date_gmt":"2020-12-18T16:07:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/cap\/?p=1040"},"modified":"2025-12-23T09:56:19","modified_gmt":"2025-12-23T14:56:19","slug":"staying-warm-this-winter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/cap\/staying-warm-this-winter\/","title":{"rendered":"Staying Warm This Winter"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>By Crystal Baldwin<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Heat is a precious commodity. This was an easy lesson to learn when growing up in Vermont.\u00a0At my house, once the thermostat was set at 68 degrees\u00a0Fahrenheit, when the front door opened,\u00a0you\u2019d\u00a0hear my dad call down the hall, \u201cClose the door, you\u2019re letting all the heat out!\u201d\u00a0Much of the time, the door would have long been closed.\u00a0But, that\u00a0did not\u00a0keep the puff of cold air that entered from lingering.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The cost of heat motivated my dad to be conscious about conserving it.\u00a0My siblings and I did our best\u00a0to do just that.\u00a0 We learned to bundle up in sweaters and long underwear to keep the chill off.\u00a0There were never too many blankets at bedtime. I am thankful that I never felt too cold or too uncomfortable from the cold\u2014except maybe when shoveling during a\u00a0Nor&#8217;easter.\u00a0This winter, my personal hope is that every Vermonter will be warm\u00a0and will know how to gain access to heat.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image is-style-default\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"940\" height=\"788\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/cap\/files\/2020\/12\/Stay-Warm-This-Winter2.png\" alt=\"Resources in VT to stay warm.  Find help now.\" class=\"wp-image-1042\" style=\"aspect-ratio:1.1837270341207349;width:442px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/cap\/files\/2020\/12\/Stay-Warm-This-Winter2.png 940w, https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/cap\/files\/2020\/12\/Stay-Warm-This-Winter2-300x251.png 300w, https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/cap\/files\/2020\/12\/Stay-Warm-This-Winter2-768x644.png 768w, https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/cap\/files\/2020\/12\/Stay-Warm-This-Winter2-358x300.png 358w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 940px) 100vw, 940px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>Heating fuel can be expensive.\u00a0Fuel pricing, outside of pre-buy or fixed price contract, is not regulated in Vermont. People often turn back the dial on their thermostats to preserve fuel to forgo the added expense. The CAP hotline has heard stories of families in need of fuel and living on low to no heat in the middle of winter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you or someone you know is having trouble affording heat this winter, I encourage you to seek out programs that can&nbsp;assist:&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u2022&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/dcf.vermont.gov\/benefits\/fuel\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Vermont\u2019s Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program<\/a>&nbsp;known as Fuel Assistance, can help those who qualify for the program. We encourage people who need help paying for heating costs to seek out Vermont Fuel Assistance. Vermonters can call 1-800-479-6151 to request an application, go online to apply, or visit their local&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/dcf.vermont.gov\/esd\/contact\/districts\">Department of Children and Families<\/a>. Make sure to start the application process before the upcoming heating season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-left\">\u2022&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;Don\u2019t qualify for fuel assistance? Your <a href=\"https:\/\/vermontcap.org\/find-help\/\">Community Action Agency<\/a> may have a supplemental program that might be able to help.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-left\">\u2022&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;Have a back balance on your account? Check with your fuel dealer about payment plan options. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-left\">\u2022&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;The United Ways of Vermont information and referral hotline, 2-1-1 can connect you to additional regional resources.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Know someone who could use extra support? Consider nominating someone for the<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ticketsplit.org\/\"> Split the Ticket\u00a0Fund<\/a>. <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>If you would like more information, watch the following video.\u00a0The Consumer Assistance Program\u2019s Assistant Director, Lisa Jensen, was\u00a0recently on\u00a0<em>Across the Fence<\/em>\u00a0with the Director of Chittenden Community Action, Travis Poulin, discussing this important topic.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"12\/10\/20 Keeping Warm-Know Your Rights &amp; Community Resources on &#039;Across The Fence&#039;\" width=\"584\" height=\"329\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/y3SLXbokC8U?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Across The Fence Program: Keeping Warm-Know Your Rights &amp; Community Resources<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-css-opacity\" \/>\n\n\n\n<p>May you and yours be\u00a0warm this winter.\u00a0If you find that you\u00a0are not\u00a0warm, please seek out the assistance outlined above. If you are warm this winter, consider spreading warmth by checking in on neighbors and encouraging them to contact us when in need of support. If you are able, consider donating a gift of warmth to support a\u00a0heating assistance program.\u00a0You\u2019ll be glad you did.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If you or someone you know is having trouble affording heat this winter, I encourage you to seek out programs that can\u00a0assist <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/cap\/staying-warm-this-winter\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4480,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[481474,705066,705068,505537],"class_list":["post-1040","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","tag-consumer","tag-heating-fuel","tag-heating-season","tag-propane"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/cap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1040","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/cap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/cap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/cap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4480"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/cap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1040"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/cap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1040\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2046,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/cap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1040\/revisions\/2046"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/cap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1040"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/cap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1040"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/cap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1040"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}