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No More Summer Utility Assistance for Low Income Hoosiers

Indiana won’t provide low-income families with financial help when dealing with summer cooling needs.  

The Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority traditionally provides $50 benefits to utility companies to help low-income households deal with high energy bills as they try to keep cool  during the summer months.

Those Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, or LIHEAP, benefits  won’t be offered this summer because the state ran out of money – it’s already spent nearly $50 million this fiscal year for winter heating assistance.

The IHCDA is urging agency partners that help  administer LIHEAP to use whatever money they have left to provide crisis assistance for homes whose  utilities are disconnected during the summer. 

Brandon Smith is excited to be working for public radio in Indiana. He has previously worked in public radio as a reporter and anchor in mid-Missouri for KBIA Radio out of Columbia. Prior to that, he worked for WSPY Radio in Plano, Illinois as a show host, reporter, producer and anchor. His first job in radio was in another state capitol, in Jefferson City, Missouri, as a reporter for three radio stations around Missouri. Brandon graduated from the University of Missouri-Columbia with a Bachelor of Journalism in 2010, with minors in political science and history. He was born and raised in Chicago.