Gilford Welfare Department has increased requests as cold weather hits

GILFORD — Welfare Director Tom Carr told the selectboard last week his office has been fielding more requests for help in recent months, especially compared to his report to the board nearly half a year ago.

“I wouldn’t say things are busy or on the verge of out of control or anything like that, but we are definitely starting to get a steady stream of requests for assistance,” Carr said on Nov. 12.

Carr said there is one exception, as the department is assisting a woman who “is in a tough way” with a portion of her rent.

With the winter months coming, and the temperatures already feeling that way, Carr said heating assistance demand will likely start to grow.

“From now until Dec. 1 is the time that people don’t have access to their state heating funds, so typically this is when we get a few requests,” Carr said. “We’ve had one or two in the last few weeks, and I expect in the next month we’ll probably have a bit more of that.”

Carr said electricity does not cost the department much, because Eversource has several programs, including the New Start Program, to alleviate this. He told the selectboard it seems like whenever someone has had their electricity shut off, or on the brink of being disconnected due to a large past due balance, he is able to contact Eversource for it to be worked out.

“Sometimes it costs us 10% of the past due, which really isn’t that much,” he said. “The biggest one I’ve ever seen is like $1,900, so 10% of that gets them back going. Frequently, they don’t even ask us for the 10% and just say ‘we’ll just work out a plan with them.’”

The department is in good shape financially, with 45% of the overall welfare budget left, and 14% remaining in the year. This includes 56% of the housing budget, 64% of the electricity budget, and 28% of the heating budget.

“We have been really fortunate this year in terms of housing, that we have not had anyone that’s approached us, or been qualified for extended housing in a hotel, or an inn, or an apartment, or things like that,” Carr said.

Carr spoke to the board about the professional development done in his position, saying he goes to Concord every spring for training specifically for welfare directors done by the New Hampshire Municipal Association. He also plans to attend an additional training course in Manchester next week.

Selectboard Clerk Gus Benavides publicly thanked Carr for the work he does, and recognized it can be a difficult department to run. He said he appreciates that Carr works with those in the community who need it most, while also being mindful in using his budget funds.

“We do stand here as citizen volunteers to work with our residents. I’m sure you see a lot of things that our people don’t see,” Benavides said. “The fact that you are working to try to meet the needs of these residents, and at the same time, to be faithful to all the residents, in making sure that our tax dollars that we raise to support all our residents are spent wisely.”

Benavides encouraged Carr to continue to create “great relationships” with organizations like Eversource. He said whether this is other businesses, like propane or oil companies, these relationships could be vital in securing grants and avenues for funding to help meet the needs of the residents who need the help.

“We’re entering into our winter months, where we don’t know what we’ll see,” Benavides said. “We’re hoping that oil prices will continue to go down. Again, I’m not being political, I’m hopeful, because it does cost our residents money. Hopefully, all our utility companies can try to keep the energy costs down, because as we all know, they’ve been high for a long, long time.”