Contact:
Joe Diamond
Executive Director, MASSCAP
617.645.2949 or joediamond@masscap.org
Colleen Cullen
Director, Grants Management and Compliance, MASSCAP
617.735.5451 or colleencullen@masscap.org
Event recording: https://www.youtube.com/live/XeTdlZX6pWQ
Boston, MA – January 8, 2026 – Yesterday, the Massachusetts Association for Community Action (MASSCAP – www.masscap.org) and Action for Boston Community Development (ABCD), along with the Massachusetts Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities (EOHLC), the network of Community Action Agencies (CAAs) in Massachusetts, and the Massachusetts Energy Directors Association (MEDA), held a heating help awareness event highlighting the need for vulnerable Massachusetts households to stay safe, warm, and healthy this winter. Households of all kinds may be eligible for help with their home winter heating bills, no matter the energy source.
Applications for home energy assistance are currently being accepted online, and income-eligible households may receive help through April 30, 2025. Both renters and homeowners are eligible for assistance.
Applying is easy with the ability to apply online directly to the agency serving your town. The website www.heatinghelpMA.org (connected to the MASSCAP website) provides information for those in need of heating assistance as well as energy efficiency program information and a link to the online application portal, www.toapply.org/MassLIHEAP.
Joe Diamond, Executive Director, MASSCAP explained, “Along with the critical goal of helping our vulnerable friends and neighbors to become economically stable and mobile, fuel assistance and weatherization support the health and safety of thousands of households. We know from studies conducted by Children’s Health Watch that the health of children is supported and enhanced in fuel assistance aided homes.” Diamond continued, “We update our legislators every year and we are grateful for their support over the years.”
He added, “The start of the program was delayed because of the government shutdown. We were able to continue to take applications and keep fuel assistance and other programs open because of flexible state resources that come to the CAAs from a line item known as the antipoverty line item. We are grateful to the Massachusetts Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities for working with us to deploy limited fuel assistance resources carried over from last year to address no heat emergencies during the period of the shutdown.”
“Home energy assistance is offered through the federal program (HEAP) that helps households making less than 60% of state median income to address home energy costs. In Massachusetts, the program is administered by EOHLC in partnership with community-based organizations, CAAs, and the City of Cambridge. Eligibility for HEAP is based on several factors, including household size and combined gross annual income of residents 18 and older. The program provides assistance for all sources of heat, including oil, electricity, natural gas, propane, kerosene, wood and coal. For example, a family of four, making up to $99,573 would be eligible for help.
Through related programs available with the same application there are home energy efficiency opportunities that provide not only payment relief and utility discounts, but also life-saving emergency heating repair and replacement and stabilizing, full-scale energy efficiency measures. These holistic programs allow both renters and homeowners to spend a smaller percentage of their income to meet their energy costs.
“HEAP serves older adults, families, and working individuals across the entire state to make sure they don’t go without heat. EOHLC is grateful for the ecosystem of support that continues to work quickly and creatively to support Massachusetts residents each year, but especially during this extremely cold winter,” said Amy Stitely, Undersecretary of Strategy and Climate, of EOHLC.
Senator Elizabeth Warren lent her support via video message, noting, “The effects of climate change are making our winters colder and more severe every single year. With costs on the rise, programs like LIHEAP are a lifeline for thousands of Massachusetts families. No one should have to choose between keeping their children warm and putting food on the table.”
Senator Ed Markey added in his video message, “Families in need should not have to worry about whether they can afford to keep their heat on when it’s freezing outside and that’s what the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program is for. That is why I fight so hard to keep this program protected, funded, and working for the more than 160,00 Massachusetts households that rely on it.”
“This moment reflects the power of collaboration—from national advocates to state leaders to local agencies—to protect families during the coldest months of the year,” said Sharon Scott-Chandler, President and CEO of ABCD and First Vice President of the MASSCAP Board of Directors. “Even during the federal shutdown, community action agencies remained on the front lines, responding to heating crises and ensuring that seniors, families, and vulnerable households stayed safe and warm.”
State Representative Nick Collins (1st Suffolk) noted, “If somebody calls it’s probably the last thing they want to do,” praising efforts to assist with Heating Help signups in person across the state.
State Representative Steven Ultrino (33rd Middlesex) continued, “Nothing we do can be accomplished without you… Many of the people in my district, where we have a significant amount of poverty, would not be where they are today without you folks in the field,” referencing the work of ABCD and community action.
“One of the keys to helping low-income energy consumers is the HEAP program. HEAP supports families and helps prevent utility disconnections,” said Jenifer Bosco, Managing Director of Energy Advocacy at the National Consumer Law Center. “By staying connected to vital utility service, HEAP helps families to stay healthy and safe in their homes, and able to access work and educational opportunities,” Bosco concluded.
ABCD Director of Energy Services, Andrea Mendoza, spoke about the importance of HEAP and encouraged those who qualify to apply immediately. “HEAP is a critical health and safety program. No one should hesitate to contact their local Community Action Agency and find out more. The program is accepting applications until April 30, 2026 and it has never been easier to apply.”
Eligibility guidelines (snapshot of guidelines below) can be found at www.heatinghelpma.org. It is important to note that eligibility is based on the last four weeks of gross income and that any additional stimulus funds or pandemic unemployment assistance funds do not count toward income.
| Household Size | Gross Annual Income | 4 Week Gross Income (if paid once per month) |
4 Week Gross Income (if paid weekly or bi-weekly) |
| 1 | $51,777 | $4,314 | $3,982 |
| 2 | $67,709 | $5,642 | $6,208 |
| 3 | $83,641 | $6,970 | $6,433 |
| 4 | $99,573 | $8,297 | $7,659 |
| 5 | $115,504 | $9,625 | $8,884 |
| 6 | $131,436 | $10,953 | $10,110 |
ABCD client Jeanette Cutts spoke about the relief that HEAP provides to a household of seniors. “I am a caregiver for my father who is 87. My father, my husband and I have worked our entire lives and been self-sufficient, so it’s tough to need help in our senior years. It’s more tough to ask for the help that we need. ABCD’s fuel assistance staff always treats us with the utmost respect and dignity during the application process. We appreciate their kindness and support.”
About MASSCAP
The Massachusetts Association of Community Action’s 23 private, non-profit human service and advocacy organizations work to administer key anti-poverty programs in every city and town in the Commonwealth. These organizations serve approximately 600,000 low-income people annually, more than half of them with incomes below 125% of the federal poverty level.
For 60 years, Community Action Agencies have been on the front lines of addressing poverty — administering federal programs, federal community services and community development grants, and state funds. CAAs are economic engines in cities and towns across Massachusetts, providing communities with an annual infusion of over $1.2 million in total resources. CAAs generate at least twice that amount, helping clients become economically stable and mobile.
About the Massachusetts Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities
The Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities (EOHLC) was established in 2023 to create more homes and lower housing costs in every region. EOHLC also distributes funding to municipalities, oversees the state-aided public housing portfolio, and operates the state’s EA family shelter.
EOHLC Press Contact: Elevate, HEAP@elevatecom.com.