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Additional emergency heating assistance available for counties impacted by Helene

North Carolina is providing low-income residents impacted by Helene additional emergency assistance for heating costs and repairs.

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services began accepting applications for the Low Income Household Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) on January 2. State lawmakers appropriated additional Disaster Energy Assistance funding for eligible households in 25 affected counties including Ashe, Watauga, and Wilkes.

Applications for the additional funding will be accepted beginning Wednesday. Residents can apply for both LIHEAP and the Disaster Energy Assistance funding. The money can be applied to fuel bills as well as to repairs for heating systems.

Individuals can apply in person or over the phone with their local county Department of Social Services.

Neal Charnoff joined 88.5 WFDD as Morning Edition host in 2014. Raised in the Catskill region of upstate New York, he graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 1983. Armed with a liberal arts degree, Neal was fully equipped to be a waiter. So he prolonged his arrested development bouncing around New York and L.A. until discovering that people enjoyed listening to his voice on the radio. After a few years doing overnight shifts at a local rock station, Neal spent most of his career at Vermont Public Radio. He began as host of a nightly jazz program, where he was proud to interview many of his idols, including Dave Brubeck and Sonny Rollins. Neal graduated to the news department, where he was the local host for NPR's All Things Considered for 14 years. In addition to news interviews and features, he originated and produced the Weekly Conversation On The Arts, as well as VPR Backstage, which profiled theater productions around the state. He contributed several stories to NPR, including coverage of a devastating ice storm. Neal now sees the value of that liberal arts degree, and approaches life with the knowledge that all subjects and all art forms are connected to each other. Neal and his wife Judy are enjoying exploring North Carolina and points south. They would both be happy to never experience a Vermont winter again.

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