211 Winter Warmth Information
The Winter Warmth provides grants to low-income residents who have utility accounts
in arrears or are faced with the threat of disconnection because of special
circumstances that have led to their arrears. The Winter Warmth was created to enable
clients to avoid losing heat and warmth during the cold winter months and operates from
November until the end of June.
The program is delivered through a network of more than 40 agencies across
participating utility companies’ service areas with overall oversight provided by local
United Ways. This Program Manual has been developed to guide program
implementation. This protocol defines eligibility criteria, application processes, and the
roles of agencies
211 call staff will be responsible for:
 Managing client inquiries;
 Pre-screening applicants;
 Intake of basic information
 Relaying information to the United Way of Bruce Grey
GRANT ELIGIBILITY AND CRITERIA
The Program will benefit individuals and families who are clients of the utility providing
funding and who are living below or slightly above the poverty line.
Participating utilities
Westario Power – all clients including those in Wellington and Huron Counties
Union Gas – Bruce and Grey County clients only
Hydro One - – Bruce and Grey County clients only
Pending funding availability, clients needing oil or wood may be assisted as well –
Bruce and Grey County clients only
To be eligible for a grant from the Winter Warmth, the applicant must be an existing
customer of the utility providing the funding.
Eligible grant recipients will include:
Households that:
Have a net household income (including employment income, regular family
support payments and Child Tax Benefit, but excluding Universal Child Care
Benefits and Working Family Supplement) equal to or less than the Low Income
Cut-Off (LICO) plus 15%.2 Refer to the Income Eligibility Table
And
Have received a disconnection notice or have already been disconnected, or are in
arrears for their energy bills, or are confronted, as a result of special circumstances
such as illness or job loss or other issues, with the prospect of being unable to pay their
energy bill
And
Have exhausted all other sources of financial support
Clients will only be able to access the program once in a given heating season.
Applications will be assessed to ensure that a grant will result in a sustained benefit to
the client. Clients who would be unable to sustain their energy costs following a grant
will not be eligible. Clients will be assessed for full eligibility by the Grey Bruce Credit
Counseling office.
GRANT LEVEL
The grant level is set at a maximum of $450/family.
If the applicant owes less than $450, the grant cannot exceed the amount owed.
If the applicant owes more than $450, a maximum grant of $450 may be provided, so
long as the client will be able to sustain their energy costs following the grant.
Options for clients who owe more than $450 to sustain their energy costs include:
 Negotiating a mutually agreed upon payment plan with the utility for the balance
owing, and/or
 Supplementary assistance through other emergency funding for the balance.
If these options are not available the client may be denied assistance on the basis that
they cannot sustain their energy costs.
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Grants do not include amounts owed for deposits, reconnection fees, equipment
rental or financing charges.
APPLICATION PROCESS
It‘s anticipated that referrals to the Winter Warmth will come from a variety of sources.
Referral sources will include Utility Customer Service Representatives, community
service agencies, the 211 Community Service Information line and governmental and/or
political representatives who receive queries from clients in need of energy assistance.
Step 1: Pre-screening
Utility privacy requirements per utility
Union Gas – none at intake, form is signed as part of processing
Westario Power – clients are asked to call Westario Power and inform them that the
United Way of Bruce Grey has permission to discuss their account
Hydro One – permission form needs to be signed and faxed to 888 432 1432 prior to
the United Way of Bruce Grey beginning to process the application
Privacy Consent
“To determine whether you are eligible for Winter Warmth assistance, I will need to ask
you some questions about your household, income, mortgage or rental expenses and
utility account. The information requested and collected is for the purpose of processing
your application to the Winter Warmth Program. All of the information collected is
considered confidential and will not be discussed with anyone outside our agency, the
United Way of Bruce Grey and the Grey Bruce Credit Counseling office without your
permission. Do you consent to providing the requested information and to signing the
Consent to Disclosure of Personal Information for the purpose of processing your
application?”
To assist with the large number of inquiries during service delivery, operators should
pre-screen the applicants on the phone prior to filing an intake form. At Pre-screening,
three questions are asked:
1) Are you a [utility] customer?
2) What is your yearly/monthly net household income?
3) How many people are in your household?
Clients, who are not current utility customers, or who do not meet the income criteria,
are not eligible for the program.
Step 2: Completing the Application
For those who meet the above criteria, operators should complete the top half of The
Winter Warmth Intake Form on the phone with the applicant.
The Winter Warmth Intake Form should be completed by the operator during the prescreening phone call for all applicants. It’s important to complete the form in its entirety
for all applicants.
If the applicant is not eligible, they should be informed and provided with information on
other resources.
Step 3: Advise client of next steps
Each client will be called by the Grey Bruce Credit Counseling office to set up a full
application process. (It should be noted that the call display for the Credit Counselor
comes up as “BLOCKED”)
Clients will need to bring the following documentation:
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2 pieces of ID (person whose name is on the bill)
1 piece of ID For each person residing the residence
Proof of income
Proof of rent or mortgage payment
Bank statement
Most recent utility bill
Upon completion of the intake form it should be immediately emailed to
unitedwaybg@bmts.com
Notifying the Applicant
*Important - At no time is the operator permitted to communicate to a client that they
will receive a grant through the Winter Warmth Program, without first receiving official
confirmation from the United Way of Bruce Grey and/or the Grey Bruce Credit
Counseling office, who in turn will have received confirmation from the utility company.
Grants are issued by the agency on behalf of the applicant directly to the utility.
The payment is NEVER issued directly to the applicant.
Tracking Community Referrals
There is a place on each application to list where referrals are made to community
services. It’s important to record each community referral provided to a client as this
allows for the tracking of statistics for program reporting and evaluation.
Confidentiality
The information collected from clients throughout the application process includes
information of a personal nature, such as income, which would normally be viewed as
private and confidential. Lead and Intake Agencies should all take reasonable and
appropriate steps to safeguard the confidentiality of this information by storing electronic
and hard copies of the information securely.