Lynn officials brace for local shutdown impact

LYNN – The federal government’s partial shutdown is moving into its third week, and temperatures are beginning to drop, which could leave some of the city’s most vulnerable out in the cold.”LIHEAP (Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program) funding has not become available yet,” said Annmarie Karayianes, chief operations officer for Lynn Economic Opportunity Inc. “LIHEAP is fuel assistance for our low-income residents. This is the time when applications start to come in.”According to Karayianes, 58 percent of residents helped by LIHEAP last year were elderly or families with children under the age of 18.”That’s a huge demographic,” she said.Karayianes said she spent the afternoon Friday reaching out to state legislators hoping to get some help before winter sets in. Unfortunately, this is not a new problem for LEO, but it is heightened by the government shutdown, she said. To receive fuel assistance, residents must apply and be certified, which takes time, Karayianes explained.”There is always a lag time between actually getting the funding and the application,” she said.Applications for fuel assistance begin coming in in October, are certified by November and the first deliveries generally go out in December, Karayianes said. Receipt of the federal funding generally coincides with the first deliveries but Karayianes is worried that with the shutdown that won’t happen this year.”I’m in the process of asking the state to give us some assistance through a supplemental budget,” she said. “I’m asking for $20 million to get us started and get us through this.”But $20 million won’t get them through the winter. Karayianes called that a jump start until the federal program kicks in, which she hopes will happen before the year ends.Fuel assistance is not LEO’s only concern; its Head Start program is also in danger of taking a hit, but in the dining room, not the classroom.”The Head Start program is, right now, all right,” Karayianes said. “I think it’s the USDA reimbursement that is in question for the meals we provide.”Head Start is a preschool program for children ages 3 through 5 that includes some meals. LEO bills the federal government for the program and receives reimbursement for monies spent. With the shutdown in effect, there is no reimbursement.Karayianes said she is concerned enough that she and her staff met last week to discuss alternatives to funding the meals.”For most of our children these are the only meals they get,” she said. “So we will definitely need to figure out a way to continue it.”The rest of the city, at least those that rely on government grants and funding, are in a wait-and-see mode.Mayor Judith Flanagan Kennedy said she’s unaware of any direct effects on the city due to the shutdown. Police Chief Kevin Coppinger said the shutdown hasn’t hit yet, but he does have a few concerns. Coppinger said the department applied for the renewal of a grant that “is kind of key for us getting through the rest of the year.””We were supposed to be notified of the decision last week but we haven’t heard yet,” he said.The grant is state money, but, like many state grants, it is federally funded in part, which Coppinger suspects is why the department has not heard. Like LEO’s meal program, it is a reimbursable grant, but Coppinger is hesitant to jump in and spend the funds without assurance the grant will be approved.”We’re kind of in a wait-and-see mode,” he said. “But I’d like to use the money to get some program out on the streets.”State Rep. Donald Wong said he’s afraid if the shutdown continues much longer it will affect grants and nonprofits that rely on government funding.”I blame both sides,” said the Republican from Saugus. “Some of the hard-line Republicans don’t want to budge and then you have the president who doesn’t want to budge. You have two sides who don’t want to negotiate and that’s not good.”Wong said it shouldn’t be about political parties or agendas.”It’s about the people,” he said. “They have to rememb