​“The Community Action Council of Portage County wishes to announce the availability of its draft Two Year Budget and Work Plan for Calendar Years 2022 and 2023 under the Community Service Block Grant (CSBG) for public review and comment. CSBG funding is used by the CAC to provide core funding for a wide variety of agency-operated programs designed to impact on poverty in Portage County and will be submitted to the Ohio Department of Development in December 2021. In the prior 2 year period, CSBG funds facilitated the provision of services to over 24,000 Portage County families in a wide variety of areas, including utility assistance and weatherization, other energy conservation and efficiency services, emergency home repair, rent and mortgage assistance, youth and after school services, technology training and testing, summer and other food services for children, and other services. Any individual wishing to review the application may contact the agency’s administrative offices @ (330) 297-1456, by visiting the offices located at 1036 West Main Street in Ravenna, Ohio, Monday-Friday, between the hours of 9:00 am and 4:00 pm, or by contacting the agency via e-mail at dshea@cacportage.net or info@cacportage.net. The CSBG application will provide estimated funding to the agency approximating $325,138 per year for the period January 1, 2022 through December 31, 2023 but is subject to congressional actions that may dramatically change current and future funding. The application will be submitted to the Ohio Department of Development in December 2021.”

The Community Action Council of Portage County and Ohio Department of Development will help Ohioans stay warm during the cold winter months. The Home Energy Assistance Winter Crisis Program provides eligible Ohioans heating assistance.  To qualify for the Winter Crisis Program, a household must be threatened with disconnection, have been disconnected or have less than a 25 percent supply of bulk fuel. The household must also have a gross income at or below 175 percent of the federal poverty level. The program runs from November 1, 2021 until March 31, 2022.  

You could be eligible for a payment on your gas, electric, water bill, propane, fuel oil, or wood/pellets.

Individuals interested in receiving Winter Crisis assistance must have a phone appointment, and provide all required documentation. Customers must provide the following items:

• 30days of income for all adult household members(self-employed individuals are required to provide 12 months of income and tax return; seasonal workers need most recent 12 months of income)
• copies of the most recent energy bills
• list of all household members with Social Security numbers and birth dates
• proof of U.S. citizenship/legal residency for all household members
• proof of disability if disabled
• Picture I.D.
• In some instances, we may request a statement of how COVID-19 has affected a household member.

 
It is important that you provide all of the necessary documentation.  Your application cannot be completed until all required documents have been provided.  All households have their own unique circumstances, and you may be asked for additional documentation at the time of your appointment.
 
Any family or individual can call toll free 234-703-4303 or go online https://app.capappointments.com to schedule an appointment.  Appointments are scheduled up to 3 weeks in advance and must be made through the Agency’s 24 hour Interactive Voice Response scheduling system either by phone or online.

CAC also offers call-in appointments at our Ravenna office Monday through Thursday starting at 8:00 am through 10:00 am or until all the appointments are full.  We will not be offering satellite sites for this year’s Winter Crisis Program due to the pandemic. 
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ALL APPOINTMENTS, AND CALL-INS WILL BE CONDUCTED VIA PHONE INTERVIEW.  You are required to be available via the phone number provided, and have the required documents available so you are able to answer the intake specialists questions at the date and time of your appointment.  The Intake Specialist will work with you to decide what is the best method for providing your documents.  For more information, contact the agency at 330-297-1456 (press 1 for HEAP).