People for Community Recovery’s Community Resource Toolkit

• Energy Assistance/cash assistance to pay your bills
  1. Comed

     1. ComEd is a participant in the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), a federally funded program to assist limited-income households in paying heat and electricity bills, regardless of renting or ownership status. See https://www.comed.com/MyAccount/CustomerSupport/Pages/LiheapPipp.aspx for more information and eligibility.

     2. ComEd’s Catch Up and Save program helps eliminate past due balances and provide stabilized monthly billing through its Supplemental Arrearage Reduction Program (SARP). See https://www.comed.com/MyAccount/CustomerSupport/Pages/CatchUpSave.aspx for more information and eligibility.

     3. ComEd offers grants to income-eligible households experiencing documented hardships with assistance on past due balances. See https://www.comed.com/MyAccount/CustomerSupport/Pages/YourNeighborFund.aspx for more information and eligibility.

     4. ComEd offers a Deferred Payment Arrangement program to assist with paying off a large or past due balance, with payments spread between 4-12 months. See https://www.comed.com/MyAccount/MyBillUsage/Pages/PaymentArrangements.aspx for more information and eligibility.

        1. Alternatively, if you just need more time to pay off a bill, ComEd offers eligible customers due date extensions up to 21 days.

• Peoples Gas

  1. Peoples Gas is a participant in the The Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), and provides financial assistance to help customers with limited incomes pay their energy bills. See https://www.peoplesgasdelivery.com/payment-bill/liheap for more information and eligibility. LIHEAP is separate from PIPP and cannot be combined.

  2. Peoples Gas provides eligible customers a monthly energy bill based on their income levels through their Percentage of Income Payment Plan (PIPP). See https://www.peoplesgasdelivery.com/payment-bill/percentage-income-payment-plan for more information and eligibility. PIPP is separate from LIHEAP and cannot be combined.

  3. Through their Share the Warmth program, Peoples Gas provides heating grants to income-eligible residents. See https://www.peoplesgasdelivery.com/payment-bill/share-warmth for more information and eligibility.

  4. Peoples Gas provides financial assistance to residences with an actively deployed family member. See https://www.peoplesgasdelivery.com/payment-bill/patriot for more information and eligibility.

• LIHEAP: https://www.cedaorg.net/find-services/gas-and-electric/

  1. Community and Economic Development Association of Cook County, Inc. (CEDA)’s Utility Assistance Programs help with your gas, electric, and water bills, as well as repairing or replacing your heating system. Their LIHEAP program offers heat and electricity assistance through the Direct Vendor Payment (DVP) and Percentage of Income Payment Plan (PIPP) programs.

  2. LIHEAP-eligible households with non-functional or red-tagged heating systems qualify for assistance with repairs or replacements of furnaces or boilers through CEDA’s LIHEAP Furnace Assistant program.

• Water Assistance
  1. LIHWAP

     1. Low Income Household Water Assistance Program (LIHWAP) is a federally funded program designed to assist income-eligible households with paying their past due water and wastewater bills. You can apply for LIHWAP and other programs and services by calling the CEDA hotline at 1-800-571-2332

• City Programs

  1. Utility Billing Relief (UBR) provides low-income City of Chicago residents with a reduced rate on their water, sewer, and water-sewer tax as well as debt relief for those who demonstrate they can manage the reduced rate bills for one year. See https://www.chicago.gov/city/en/depts/fin/provdrs/utility_billing/svcs/utility-bill-relief-program.html for more information and eligibility.

• Other resources
  1. Solar for All - subscribe to community solar or get solar panel

     1. Illinois’ Solar for All program lowers low-income residents’ utility bills by providing assistance in installing and powering their homes with solar power. See https://www.illinoissfa.com/ for more information and eligibility

• Energy Efficiency

  1. Weatherization: Weatherization is also known as weatherproofing your home or residence in a way that maximizes energy efficiency and reduces your energy consumption (which, in turn, will lower your utility bills).

  2. Weatherproofing: income-eligible households may use Illinois Home Weatherization Assistance Program (IHWAP) to fund weatherization services, including insulation work, HVAC upgrades, and ventilation measures. See https://www2.illinois.gov/dceo/CommunityServices/HomeWeatherization/Pages/default.aspx for more information and eligibility.

  3. Loans without income-eligibility requirements are also available for energy efficiency needs through the Illinois Energy Loan Program. See https://ilenergyloan.com/ for more information and eligibility.

  4. ComEd and Peoples Gas, with the Chicago Bungalow Association, is providing income-eligible customers with free home energy upgrades by installing efficient ventilation and different methods of insulation. See https://www.chicagobungalow.org/energy-savers for more information and eligibility

  5. Elevate’s Income-Eligible Multifamily Savings program gives multi-family property owners free products and incentives for energy efficiency improvements at their properties. See https://www.elevatenp.org/income-eligible-multifamily-savings/ for more information and eligibility

  6. The Public Housing Energy Savings program gives free products and incentives for energy efficiency improvements in public housing. See more at https://www.elevatenp.org/public-housing-energy-savings/

  7. ComEd will conduct free Home Energy Assessments that evaluate customers’ home energy usage and give free or discounted energy efficiency resources and products, such as LEDS and smart thermostats. See https://www.comed.com/WaysToSave/ForYourHome/Pages/SingleFamily.aspx for more information and eligibility.

  8. ComEd provides free installation of energy efficiency products for all customers with their Home Energy Jumpstart Program. See https://www.peoplesgasdelivery.com/savings/rebates-direct for more information and eligibility.

  9. If you're interested in steps you can take to actively reduce your energy usage, see https://www.anspblog.org/reduce-your-household-energy-use/ for more information

  10. ComEd offers credits on customers’ energy bills when they enroll in Peak-Time Savings program and reduce their energy usage during peak usage times. See https://www.comed.com/WaysToSave/ForYourHome/Pages/PeakTimeSavings.aspx for more information, eligibility requirements, and enrollment.

• Health and Safety

  1. The city of Chicago has an Emergency Heating Repair Program that gives income-qualified homeowners grant money to repair or replace their furnace or boiler heating system. Learn more and apply at https://www.chicago.gov/city/en/depts/doh/provdrs/homeowners/svcs/emergency-heating-repair-program.html

  2. There are many programs dedicated to serving low-income elderly people with home maintenance, repairs, and moving. This includes Housing Opportunities & Maintenance for the Elderly (H.O.M.E)’s Upkeep & Repair program (https://homeseniors.org/upkeep-repair) and the city of Chicago’s Small Accessible Repairs for Seniors (https://www.chicago.gov/city/en/depts/doh/provdrs/homeowners/svcs/sarfs.html).

  3. Income-eligible single-family homes can apply for a loan or a grant via the Single Family Housing Repair Loans & Grants program to do repairs on or modernize their homes. See https://www.rd.usda.gov/programs-services/single-family-housing-programs/single-family-housing-repair-loans-grants/il for more information and the application.

  4. If you’re concerned about your water quality, you can get a free water testing kit by contacting the Chicago Department of Water Management at https://www.chicagowaterquality.org/home

  5. If you don’t currently feel safe using your water, you can contact the Chicago Department of Water Management to see if you are eligible for a filter (https://www.chicagowaterquality.org/home). Additionally, PCR will deliver bottled water to residents with water quality concerns on the Southside (please call the office for more information).

  6. Due to the pandemic, select internet providers are offering lower internet rates to income eligible families under the federal Emergency Broadband Benefit program. More information is available at https://www.citizensutilityboard.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/LowIncomeInternet.pdf

• LEAD SERVICE LINE REPLACEMENT:

  1. The Department of Water Management’s Equity Lead Service Line Replacement (E-LSLR) Program provides a new copper water service line to income qualifying, owner-occupied residential buildings. See https://www.leadsafechicago.org/lead-service-line-replacement for more information and eligibility, and https://chicagowaterquality.org/LSLREquity to fill out an application.

• How to read bills:

  1. Understanding your bill can be hard, but the Citizens Utility Board offers resources for better understanding your electric bill (https://www.citizensutilityboard.org/electric_makingsense/), gas bill (https://www.citizensutilityboard.org/gas_makingsense/), and water bills (https://www.citizensutilityboard.org/factsaboutyourwaterbill/). For more help reading your bill, contact kendrick@pcrchi.org or call our office.