The sun through grass. Photo provided | Jeremy Bishop on Unsplash

It’s hot. Like, really hot.

And it’s going to stay hot: The National Weather Service is predicting high heat and humidity throughout the weekend. Those who can are likely cranking their ACs to stay cool, but some local residents aren’t so lucky, especially if they’re dependent on federally funded government programs to cover their cooling costs.

“During this time of year we always have very little funding,” said Catrena Bowman, executive director of the Northern Kentucky Community Action Commission. The action commission is responsible for administering funding to eligible Kentuckians to help them pay their utility bills via a federally-funded program called LIHEAP, or the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program.

“The projection is that we should be getting [funding] mid July,” Bowman said.

For many who live on fixed incomes or can’t work for whatever reason, LIHEAP is a lifeline. More than 78,100 households received LIHEAP assistance in Kentucky in fiscal year 2024, according the LIHEAP Clearing House, an organization contracted with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to track data about the program.

“Right now people are still coming in every day needing energy assistance,” Bowman said. “We’re seeing bills that are between $1,200 and $1,500. Especially as the temperatures continue to go up, we know those bills are going to continue to escalate, but I know over the last several weeks we haven’t had any funding. We’ve seen hundreds of people have still been coming in and applying for assistance.”

The Northern Kentucky Community Action Commission is an example of a community action agency, which have their origins in the 1960s as part of the War on Poverty. Kentucky agencies were established by law in the early 80s. Community action agencies are the only organizations allowed to disburse LIHEAP funding to local residents.

The action commission also manages another program called the Home Energy Assistance program in conjunction with Duke Energy.

Candice deKroon. Photo provided | Candice deKroon

Florence resident Candice deKroon is one such person who’s relied on both programs in the past only to be disappointed this year. deKroon has several disabilities that limit her mobility and ability to work. One of her disabilities also causes low blood pressure, which can put her at risk of passing out if she’s exposed to extreme heat. Her disability benefits pay her just over $1,100 a month.

By deKroon’s telling, getting help with her utilities has been onerous. After learning that the community action commission had run out of funds, she reached out to St. Vincent de Paul, a Catholic service agency that offers utility assistance from donor funds. She eventually got her bill settled, she said, but only after having gone through an obstacle course’s worth of bureaucratic entanglements.

“All these people are sitting stagnant and not being reviewed, and mine gets reviewed because I yelled the loudest,” deKroon said. “Who else’s cases aren’t being reviewed?”

LIHEAP is an old program that has historically enjoyed bipartisan support. In 2025, however, employees managing the program at the Department of Health and Human Services were fired and the idea of eliminating funding of the program entirely has come under consideration.

Congress decided instead to fund the program to the tune of just over $4 billion for fiscal year 2026. Kentucky was allocated about $56.5 million, according to the LIHEAP Clearing House.

The Kentucky Cabinet of Health and Human Services, which manages the state-level LIHEAP disbursements in Kentucky, sent a written statement to LINK nky when asked if there were funding delays.

“The program is fully-funded, and Kentucky has not experienced a disruption in funding due to changes or loss of staff at the federal level,” the cabinet statement reads.

Still, everyone agreed people were hurting.

“It’s pretty much across the board,” said Derek VanderWeg, communications associate with St. Vincent de Paul of Northern Kentucky, which eventually contributed to deKroon. “People are hurting right now. We’re seeing those requests come in, and we’re doing everything that we can to meet the need.”

Requests for assistance have increased about 10% year-over-year, VanderWeg said. Of those requests, 61% were for utilities. Last quarter, VanderWeg said, the organization distributed about $181,000 in utility assistance.

“[Callers] have mentioned that they have called different organizations, and they are out of funding,” said Beth Stewart, a St. Vincent de Paul volunteer who fields phone requests for utility assistance. She said they had been getting “a lot more calls over the past few weeks.”

“We’re happy to provide funding to anybody who calls, no matter what they’re going through, whether or not they’ve received assistance or not,” VanderWeg said.

You can see some organizations linked below that provide utility assistance if you need help with your utilities or would like to donate or volunteer: