Staying warm in this extreme cold a big concern, as thousands of families need heating assistance in the Boston area alone. But there are concerns funding for this program may run dry.
For Nick Apodiakos of Brighton, taking care of his 91-year-old mother Rose and 90-year-old father Nestor is a full-time job.
The former Wall Street worker has to pinch pennies to make ends meet.
"On a fixed income basis you only have so much you can pay your vendors, National Grid, EverSource, phones," Apodiakos said.
They’re one of 25,000 families in the Boston area who rely on Action for Boston Community Development, or ABCD, for home heating assistance.
"It really helps out a lot, especially when you’re handicapped and disabled, they couldn’t do it by themselves, they can’t, so ABCD walked in, it’s like God sent them, boom," said Apodiakos.
But ABCD is concerned that thanks in part to Mother Nature, funding could run out.
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"This is a very, very early cold snap to have this kind of duration of cold and so we’re very concerned about clients running out of assistance," said John Wells, vice president of real estate and energy services at ABCD.
ABCD is asking the federal government to direct available Low Income Home Energy Assistance funding to the Northeast.
"There’s 10 percent that could be released right now that the federal government is holding onto," said Wells. "We’re in the crisis now and we’re asking that to be done."
"They have limited resources – more funding, you would help the people that are elderly and handicapped," Apodiakos said.
