The United Way of Bruce Grey may get a small but helpful boost from Owen Sound Council for its Winter Warmth program.
Council agreed on Monday to look at waiving a 10 dollar fee for obtaining copies of utility bills.
United Way Executive Director Francesca Dobbyn says last year, they spent over 68-hundred dollars helping Owen Sound families who were struggling to pay water and sewer bills.
But then she was informed that for each copy of a bill, they would have to pay a 10 dollar fee.
Dobbyn says it’s great council is looking at eliminating that fee, because it’s a small way a small council can help such a large program, without always looking to Grey County for social service support.
In total, the winter warmth program spent over 280-thousand dollars helping Grey-Bruce families last winter — three times as much as was spent in 2009-2010.
And Dobbyn has worries about this upcoming winter.
She’s worried a lot of this past year’s funds may not be there, and utility companies are starting to cap what they can do in terms of assistance.
Dobbyn says the recession is not over for residents in Grey-Bruce, and she’s worried about seniors and young families.
She says energy conservation is not the answer, as half of utility bill deals with delivery and debt repayment fees.
This is why she’s happy they may receive some small, but much needed, support from council.
