Healthy Peninsula has received a 2019 Project Heat grant from the United Way of Eastern Maine to supplement heating assistance programs in the towns of Blue Hill, Brooklin, Castine, Deer Isle, Sedgwick, and Surry.
Healthy Peninsula was awarded the grant as the coordinator of Age-Friendly Coastal Communities, a collaboration among the 9 towns of the Blue Hill Peninsula and Deer Isle, along with many of the health care, social service, and community-based organizations that serve this area. The goal of the age-friendly collaboration is to support livable communities, which are communities that enhance personal independence, allow people to remain in their homes and communities as they age; and foster engagement in the community civic, economic, and social life.
Using a collaborative approach to ease the administrative burden on town governments, Healthy Peninsula successfully obtained funds for 3 participating towns in 2018. This year, with more town partners aware of the success and in need of support for their neediest residents, 6 towns joined the application and were awarded funding to supplement their fuel assistance programs.
Deer Isle Town Manager Jim Fisher commented, “We are delighted to have additional funds to help people in Deer Isle to weather the cold. Loss of heat in the winter has a catastrophic effect on health and property. Sometimes it takes a community to heat a home.”
Funds for the United Way heating assistance program are donated through the Project HEAT telethon. The funding can be used at any time to assist community members who struggle to keep warm in the colder weather.
For more information or to participate in the Age-Friendly Coastal Communities initiative, contact Anne Schroth, Healthy Peninsula Program Coordinator, at (207) 374-3257, or aschroth@healthypeninsula.org.
Comments