Senior news

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PREBLE COUNTY — The Preble County Council on Aging has several great opportunities for seniors.

HEAP

The Ohio Development Services Agency wants to remind Ohioans that assistance is available to help with their home energy bills. The Home Energy Assistance Program (HEAP) helps Ohioans at or below 175 percent of the federal poverty guidelines pay their heating bills.

Applied directly to the customer’s utility or bulk fuel bill, the benefit can help manage heating costs. Ohioans can visit www.energyhelp.ohio.gov to apply online, download a copy of the application or find contact information for a local Energy Assistance Provider (EAP). When applying, individuals need to have copies of the following documents:

Most recent utility bills.

A list of all household members (including birth dates and Social Security numbers).

Proof of income for the past 30 days for all household members (12 months for certain income types).

Proof of U.S. citizenship or legal residency for all household members.

Proof of disability (if applicable).

HEAP benefits are applied to an individual’s energy bill after January 1st. Applications for the HEAP program must be received by May 31.

This is not an emergency program. Low-income households that have been disconnected (or have a pending disconnection notice), need to establish new service, need to pay to transfer service, have 25 percent (or less) of bulk fuel supply remaining, or have a household member who was diagnosed with COVID-19 in 2020 may also be eligible for the HEAP Winter Crisis Program, which starts on November 1, 2020. If you need immediate assistance with your energy bills, please contact your local EAP. A list of providers can be found at www.energyhelp.ohio.gov.

Applications for the HEAP Winter Crisis Program must be received by March 31. For more information on HEAP, visit www.energyhelp.ohio.gov or call (800) 282-0880. Hearing-impaired customers can dial 711 for assistance.

Scam Informative Videos

The Ohio Attorney General’s Office has created a series of animated videos featuring a fictional family, the Clarks, that cover the topic of identity theft, gift card fraud, and how to spot the red flags of a scam. All the new videos can be viewed at https://www.ohioprotects.org/learn-about-fraud or direct links can be found here:

Full Video: https://rb.gy/kmgqlv.

Identity Theft: https://rb.gy/xewwsy.

Gift Card Scams: https://rb.gy/pm2kbn.

Red Flags of a Scam: https://rb.gy/usqpri.

Drive Thru Thursdays

Reminder! Drive Thru Thursdays! You do not want to miss this weekly event, and we want to see you! Stop by from 2-3 p.m. each Thursday for a special treat. The weekly treats are always a surprise; we don’t even know what the treat will be! When we run out though, we run out. If you would like to sponsor one or more of our Drive Thru Thursdays, contact Stacey Fullmer at [email protected].

Online Zoom Classes

Shake off the winter blues with Maria and Holly as they guide you through super fun classes from chair yoga to belly dancing! Please check out all of the class offerings on our website under “Calendar” for all the dates and times. Call (937) 456-4947 for more information.

All activities originate from the Senior Activities Center at 800 East St. Clair St. in Eaton, via Zoom online classes unless otherwise mentioned in the post. Like our Facebook Page at https://www.facebook.com/preblecountycouncilonaging/ or give us a call at 937-456-4947. Visit our website at www.PrebleSeniorCenter.org. Membership at the Senior Center is $10 a year. In addition to other benefits, members automatically receive our bi-monthly “Senior Scene” newsletter that features all our latest news and activities.

By Wende Kluener

For PCCOA

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