MaineHousing has launched a new online application for the Home Energy Assistance Program. The new online portal allows people to start the application process remotely while sending their application information directly to the local community action agency who will verify and process the application. It will also allow applicants to check if they have qualifying income before applying for the program. “This is an important first step in our efforts to further streamline the HEAP application process,” said MaineHousing Director Daniel Brennan. “This portal will make applying for HEAP more accessible for thousands of Maine households and we hope it will expand the reach of the program.” Applicants who have already made an appointment with their local community action agency should not use the online portal this season. This would actually end up slowing down the processing time for everyone. representing more than $16.5 million in heating assistance. HEAP is a federally funded program that serves approximately 40,000 households and more than 60,000 people in Maine each year. Most of the people served are over 65 or have children under the age of six in their household. “We are thrilled to make this program more accessible to people who need it,” said Megan Hannan, executive director of Maine Community Action. Partnership, the Maine community action agency membership association. “COVID has helped us modernize the program by allowing us to conduct interviews by phone or other electronic means; adding this front-end step means even less reliance on our customers having to take the time to travel to our offices for in-person meetings, as was once the case.” The new portal of Online application is ahead of schedule and responds to a new state law that required an online application to be in place by the end of the 2023 heating season, which began in October.
MaineHousing has launched a new online application for the Home Energy Assistance Program.
The new online portal allows people to start the application process remotely while sending their application information directly to the local community action agency who will verify and process the application.
This will also allow applicants to verify if they have qualifying income before applying for the program.
“This is an important first step in our efforts to further streamline the HEAP application process,” said MaineHousing Director Daniel Brennan. “This portal will make applying for HEAP more accessible for thousands of Maine households and we hope it will expand the reach of the program.”
Applicants who have already made an appointment with their local community action agency should not use the online portal this season. This would end up slowing down the processing time for everyone.
MaineHousing and its partner community action agencies in Maine have already accepted and processed nearly 5,000 more HEAP requests than they did during the same period last heating season with more than 33,000 applications already underway representing more than $16.5 million in heating assistance.
HEAP is a federally funded program that serves approximately 40,000 households and more than 60,000 people in Maine each year. Most of those served are over the age of 65 or have children under the age of six in their household.
“We are thrilled to make this program more accessible to people who need it,” said Megan Hannan, executive director of the Maine Community Action Partnership, the membership association of community action agencies in Maine. “COVID has helped us modernize the program by allowing us to conduct interviews by phone or other electronic means; adding this front-end step means even less reliance on our clients having to take the time to travel to our offices for in-person meetings, as was once the case.”
The new online application portal is ahead of schedule and is a response to a new state law that required an online application to be in place by the end of the 2023 heating season, which started in October.
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