Heating help available for residents

NORWICH, Conn. (WTNH) -- The freezing cold means more people are cranking up the heat, but not everyone can afford to boost their thermostat.

25 degrees and that is the warmest part of the day without the wind chill factor, dropping temperatures are serving as a wake up call for folks who need help heating their homes.

"It's busy," said Zack St. John, TVCCA, "500 calls a day."

And that's on top of the 70 to 80 scheduled appointments and dozens of walk ins.

"This is for you," Angela Arias said.

Arias is a mother of three. She came in after receiving shut off notices from her electric company. Turning the heat off when they were out of the house was not enough to keep it affordable.

"I was afraid to shut it and it to turn it off in the house. Turn the heater off, by the time they came back to the house it was going to be freezing, so I decided to come here and see what we can do," said Arias.

TVCCA was able to work out a payment plan with her utility. Like other state agencies it is now seeing people who have been reluctant to ask for help.

"The pride factor," said St. John, "come on in."

Despite being so busy folks there tell News 8 there are still appointments available and they urge people to come in, especially before March 15th. By doing so they can maximize the benefits they can receive. Of course with this cold weather you can be sure people will be coming in a lot sooner than that.

Folks there expect they'll help more than 10,000 people before the season is over.

"Really cold outside and I'm not up for the winter," said Kristy Arias, of Norwich. "I do not like the winter, I'd rather stay hot and warm inside the house."

And they welcome people who need help to come in.

"The worst thing that we can say is you don't qualify, but we can also refer you to another place," said St. John.

So far the state funding is there.