City of Fernandina Beach Love Your Neighbor utility bill assistance program

City of Fernandina Love Your Neighbor Donation Program was created to help struggling customers. There may be one time, emergency funds for paying utility or heating bills, electricity costs, and money for paying for other energy related needs of customers, including conservation. All of the funds from Love Your Neighbor program are available as the result of donations from the larger community.

The program often goes by multiple names. It can be called Neighbors Helping Neighbors, Round Up (to account for the donations), and also Project Share or Care. Depending on what charity or non-profit in the City of Fernandina territory someone inquires to, they can call it those or other names.

Any financial assistance from City of Fernandina Love Your Neighbor is one time only. Cash is not given, rather the client will get either (1) a credit applied to their utility bill or (2) funds transferred directly to their account. In either case, donations pay for Love Your Neighbor, and the low income, struggling customer can get some form of assistance.

When applying to City of Fernandina Love Your Neighbor for utility bill assistance, bring the following information. It can also be done over the phone. Clients need proof of income from all sources, whether it is their job, SSI benefits, child support, or some other source; proof of residency and identification for all household members; copies of utility bills; as well as information on case management being attended. The applicant may need other information as well, and each application is assessed on a one off basis.

Donations from the public, local charities, and employees of City of Fernandina are what pay for Love Your Neighbor. Without all of these one time or recurring donations, no family or individual would be able to be assisted. Generally thousands of dollars are raised on an annual basis, and 100% of the funds go to pay electric or heating bills of the needy.

 

 

Anyone who can donate is encouraged to do so. All of the money raised, whether it is cents from Round Up or larger, one time donations, will go to fund the program. The money also goes to paying energy as well as utility bills or qualified, low to moderate income applicants. One hundred percent of the donated money goes to applications.

Now, when it comes to applying for assistance to City of Fernandina Love Your Neighbor Donation Program, the program is limited in scope as well as capacity. There are only a small number of families that can get energy bill assistance from the service. It pays out tens (or rarely hundreds) of dollars for bills. The assistance from the program is often combined with LIHEAP grants, free energy conservation updates, and other forms of aid.

The biggest thing for any customer to do is to save money on their energy costs. They can do this using weatherization tactics, which include things like insulation, furnace tune ups, and much more. As the donations from Love Your Neighbor will only pay a small part of what a low income, struggling family may need for paying their heating or utility bills.

There is a customer service team to call to learn more. They can provide free advice on donations as well as applying for financial aid for energy bills from City of Fernandina Love Your Neighbor program. For details on either option, call (904) 310-3420.