WESTERLY - Gordon Lawless said that if it wasn't for the assistance that he and his wife Elizabeth received from Bishop Thomas J. Tobin's "Keep the Heat On" fund, the housebound couple would have spent the past few weeks freezing in their rented home.
Lawless, 82, has difficulty walking, while his 77-year-old wife suffers from diabetes and is legally blind. The pair receive daily care from visiting nurses and assistance from home health aides who provide personal care and run errands.
The retired furniture mover said that he was forced to declare bankruptcy in 2004 when he fell behind on mortgage payments and lost his home.
"It's hard to make ends meet," he acknowledged, adding that the couple receives Social Security and Supplemental Security Income. Lawless said that he pays $600 a month for rent, in addition to water and other utility bills, which leaves the pair with little money for food and heating oil.
Late last year, the couple, who are longtime members of Immaculate Conception Parish, became eligible for a LIHEAP (Low Income Heating Energy Assistance Program) grant, which also allowed them to receive an emergency allocation of 100 gallons of heating oil from the governor's office.
Since that fuel was exhausted even before the Lawless' LIHEAP grant paperwork had been processed, the elderly man contacted the South County Community Action Program for assistance. The agency referred him to the South County satellite office of the diocesan Office of Community Services and Advocacy, which arranged with a fuel company to supply the couple with 100 gallons of heating oil, made possible by Bishop Tobin's "Keep the Heat On" fund.
"If it wasn't for the fund, we would probably have been freezing," Lawless said. "The fund was a big help to us. I appreciate it very much."
To donate to Bishop Thomas J. Tobin's "Keep the Heat On" fund, send checks, payable to the "Interfaith Community Dire Emergency Fund," 184 Broad St., Providence, R.I. 02903, and note "Keep the Heat On" on the check; or visit www.heatri.com and use the secure Web site for credit card donations.
(This article originally appeared in The Providence Visitor)
