Ninth District Opportunity Inc. has announced that Dawson County households in which every household member is age 65 and older or is homebound (not disabled) due to health reasons may apply for assistance with their home heating bills beginning on Nov. 1.

The Georgia Department of Human Services will help pay heating costs for gas or electric. A one-time payment will be made by check issued to the home energy supplier on behalf of eligible households.

Eligibility for the program is based on the income of all household members. All eligible households must be responsible for their home heating costs.

Depending on the availability of funds, the regular program will open to the general public on Dec. 1.

When applying for assistance, persons will need to present verification of age for everyone in the home, verification of all household income received within the past 30 days (award letters, check stubs, public assistance checks, unemployment checks, etc.), verification of Social Security numbers for everyone in the home, verification of citizenship (driver’s license, state ID, etc.) and the most recent heating source and electric bill.

All documentation must be taken to the appointment, as Ninth District Opportunity workers can no longer obtain the information for applicants.

All eligible applicants are asked to contact Ninth District Opportunity scheduling system beginning at 12:01 a.m. Nov. 1, by telephone at (855) 636-3108 or through the website at www.ndo.org/eap.

The phone lines and website for scheduling will not be active until the opening date of the program and no appointments will be made by telephone or online until this time. No walk-ins, please. Appointments will be scheduled until all funds are exhausted.

Please do not call the local office to schedule an appointment. All appointments must be made through the automated scheduling service.

Applicants that do not meet the required criteria will be denied.

Additional information will be available online at www..ndo.org.

Ninth District Opportunity, Inc., is an equal opportunity agency while providing services without regard to age, race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, disability, national origin or any classification or category.

Home heating help for the elderly and homebound is also available for Banks, Barrow, Clarke, Elbert, Forsyth, Franklin, Habersham, Hall, Hart, Jackson, Lumpkin, Madison, Oconee, Oglethorpe, Rabun, Stephens, Towns, Union and White counties.