Senior advocates warn of winter heating woes

LYNN – Temperatures are in the 90s but senior care advocates are casting a worried eye forward to the winter months when the thermometer will drop below zero and oil prices are likely to continue soaring.Branding it the “no heat, no eat” crisis, advocates and state legislators are calling on Gov. Deval Patrick to convene a summit on the impact of energy prices on all Massachusetts consumers, particularly those on limited or fixed incomes.”The consequences of no action will be seniors freezing to death in their unheated apartments, and service programs running out of funds to help them,” Mass Home Care spokesman Al Norman said in a letter to Patrick.Norman said Massachusetts’ congressional delegation also needs to address financial relief options available to Massachusetts residents, increased allotments of food stamps, higher thresholds of federal energy assistance, and higher income and asset eligibility for fuel assistance.Greater Lynn Senior Services established an emergency fuel assistance fund several years ago tapping private donations, to help low-income seniors.”Every year, we do what we can as an agency to help, but our resources are limited,” said GLSS Director Ronald Airey said.According to advocates, the typical retiree on Social Security receives just under $13,000 a year. Filling a 275-gallon oil tank can cost $1,300 meaning a retiree on a fixed income can spend as much as 60 percent of their total income to fill their tanks six times during the course of a winter.”The crisis could reach catastrophic proportions, with recent reports stating that a delivery of oil that cost $500 last year will cost $850 this winter. We need to take action now to prevent serious consequences for elderly residents and families this winter,” said state Rep. Steven Walsh, D- Lynn.