HRDC offers energy assistance via LIEAP

**media release**

Need help with escalating energy costs? 

As winter approaches, many individuals and families struggle to afford the cost of heating their homes. District 7, HRDC offers energy assistance through LIEAP, the Low-Income Energy Assistance Program. LIEAP is designed to pay a portion of the eligible applicant’s heating bill directly to the utility provider. Assistance is based on income eligibility and other criteria and is available to both homeowners and renters. The 2018-'19 LIEAP cycle runs from October 1 through April 30.

In 2017 LIEAP helped just under 2,500 families in the agency’s five-county service area, which includes Big Horn, Carbon, Stillwater, Sweet Grass, and Yellowstone counties. Applications for assistance are available now and will be accepted through April 2019. Applicants are encouraged to call, click, or come to the Billings or Hardin offices. Submit your energy assistance application as soon as possible. Contact HRDC at: 406.247.4778, or go on line at www.hrdc7.org. The Billings office is located at 3116 1st Avenue North. The Hardin office can be found at 501 North Center Avenue in Hardin.

HRDC is a community action agency dedicated to helping individuals and families reach their full potential, secure economic independence, and revitalize communities through its 23 programs of which LIEAP is one.