Partners' funds utility grants

BY BILL DOYLE
CFP Correspondent

The skyrocketing cost of utility bills shocks everyone, but imagine not being able to afford to pay them or having to choose between paying for heating fuel or food. That dilemma actually has a name. It’s called heat or eat.
So, this winter, the Diocese of Worcester dedicated $54,000 in Partners in Charity funds to help pay utility bills for those in need. A total of 26 parishes each received $2,000 to be distributed to parishioners and two other parishes shared the remaining $2,000 after one requested only $200. The diocese recommended allocating $200 each to 10 families, but left the final decision on distribution up to the parishes.
Michael P. Gillespie, director of the Stewardship and Development Office that oversees Partners in Charity, believes this is the first time Partners has given funds to parishes to pay families’ utility bills.
“I think it’s wonderful,” he said, “and it’s well needed throughout all corners of the diocese. People really look to the parishes for help, especially during this time of year. Especially right after Christmas, a lot of people are hurting and the price of utilities has gone up dramatically.”
When Bishop McManus informed pastors about the utility grants in December, he pointed out that “the Gospel reminds us of the hardships faced by the Holy Family as they sought a place to keep warm for the birth of the Child Jesus.”
Staying warm remains a challenge for too many.
Some parishes already offered heating fuel assistance, but these funds can supplement that or pay for rising electric bills.
Timothy J. McMahon, executive director of Catholic Charities Worcester County, said partial payments can prevent a utility from being shut off.
“Then we help them come up with things and different programs that they may be able to access after we stop the shut off,” he said.
The diocese informed its 91 parishes in late December about the availability of utility funds and distributed the money to the first 28 that responded.
“It’s too bad we couldn’t help more families, but it’s a good start,” Mr. Gillespie said, “and God willing, perhaps in years to come we can continue this. That’s my hope.”
Father Francis Roberge, pastor at St. Vincent de Paul Parish in Baldwinville, said his parish issues grocery gift cards, donated by parishioners, to those in need. But the parish never had the funds to offer fuel assistance until the diocese began this program. So, he contacted 10 families he knew were in need and mailed $200 checks to each of them.
“They were very grateful and very surprised,” Father Roberge said, “and happy to have it.”
Among the recipients were a single mother of two who works long hours to make ends meet, a couple raising their grandchildren and living check-to-check, and a 93-year-old woman who broke down and cried when Father Roberge offered her assistance.
“Granted, with the price of fuel these days, $200 isn’t a whole lot of money, but it does help,” Father Roberge said. “Thank God we’ve had a mild winter so far this year.”
The money is “not meant to be exclusive, it’s meant to be really a Band-aid, but a helpful Band-aid,” said Raymond L. Delisle, chancellor and director of communications for the diocese.
Mr. Gillespie said Partners in Charity encourages parishes to start their own fuel assistance program for their parishioners.
“That makes perfect sense,” Father Roberge. “I hope we can work something out to keep that running.”
Mr. McMahon pointed out that even people in the wealthier parishes need help, but they are sometimes too embarrassed to seek it.
“Those parishes really do a good outreach to folks in their parish,” he said, “to see if they need help and they’re very sensitive to that fact, too.”
For many years the Societies of St. Vincent de Paul in St. Paul and St. Theresa parishes offered fuel assistance for people in Blackstone and Millville. Last year, the St. Vincent de Paul assisted 14 families and this winter it had already helped five families with a total of about $1,000. Divine Mercy Parish, which includes the former St. Paul, St. Theresa and St. Augustine parishes, received $2,000 from the diocese’s utility program, according to Father John L. Larochelle, pastor.
“I’m anticipating that February is going to be the most challenging month,” Father Larochelle said. “February and March possibly. So, this is a big help for us and the people in Blackstone and Millville.”
The parish pays a local oil company on behalf of parishioners. Father Larochelle also plans to help those in need pay their electric bills.
“Families are struggling,” Father Larochelle said, “with the inflation and the rising costs of really everything. I know the rising cost of electricity in Massachusetts has hit a lot of people hard so I thought this showed an awareness on the part of the diocese and Partners in Charity in terms of what the people are going through.”
Mr. McMahon agreed.
“We regularly hear,” Mr. McMahon said, “how difficult it is to pay fuel bills this year in large part due to the costs, due to the economy. Much like the food crisis was a few years ago, this year the fuel has really been a hot topic.”
These are the parishes that received funding: Divine Mercy in Blackstone, Annunciation in Gardner, St. Ann in North Oxford, St. Roch in Oxford, St. Anne and St. Patrick in Sturbridge, St. John Paul II in Southbridge, St. Vincent de Paul in Baldwinville, St. Joseph in Charlton, St. Brigid and Our Lady of Assumption in Millbury, St. Patrick in Whitinsville, St. Denis in Ashburnham, St. Anthony of Padua in Fitchburg, St. Gabriel the Archangel in Upton, St. Bernadette* in Northborough, Holy Trinity Chapel* in Leominster, Our Lady of the Lake in Leominster, St. Paul in Warren, St. Stanislaus in West Warren, St. Mary in Uxbridge, Mary, Queen of the Rosary in Spencer, St. Louis in Webster, St. Peter in Northbridge, St. Mary of the Assumption in Milford, St. Francis of Assisi in South Barre, and Immaculate Conception, Our Lady of Czestochowa, Our Lady of Providence, St. Peter and St. Andrew Mission, all in Worcester. *(St. Bernadette requested only $200 so the remaining $1,800 was shared with Holy Trinity Chapel.)