Amber Crowe of Butler County's Center for Community Resources is bracing for a rough winter.

As the person who coordinates a collaborative effort to keep people warm, she is finding furnace season especially tough when unemployment is at a two-decade high.

It has yet to snow, but already the heating assistance hot line at her Butler office is ringing -- a lot.

"Calls doubled between September and October and, normally, we don't start getting calls until later in the season," Ms. Crowe said.

"I think we're in for a rough one," she said last week.

The grim predictions have spurred a full-court press to boost charitable contributions. "We're going to need help," Ms. Crowe said.

Leslie Osche, executive director of the United Way of Butler County, said the agency was accepting contributions on behalf on the Butler County Emergency Relief Initiative.

The initiative is a collaboration of community groups and churches that formed after Hurricane Katrina in 2004 to provide relief to evacuees and those who were feeling the pinch of skyrocketing fuel prices due to Gulf Coast havoc.

Since then, $57,536 has been given by the relief initiative to utilities on behalf of 456 families. Last year, the group worked with agencies such as St. Vincent de Paul, The Lighthouse Foundation, Catholic Charities, Salvation Army and Center for Community Resources. Together, they distributed $40,221 in assistance to 265 families. The year before, $28,123 was distributed.

Often, help to families comes in the form of referrals and networking -- not just money, Ms. Crowe said.

She said families who call for help generally fear their utilities will be turned off or they have been coping with a shut-off and need service to be restarted before the mercury plummets to dangerous levels.

As the agency that coordinates the "utility integrated point of contact" hot line, the Center for Community Resources will attempt to link callers with state programs such as the Low Income Heating Assistance Program, or LIHEAP, and Dollar Energy Fund. Ms. Crowe said her staff also works with utility companies to set up payment plans.

Sometimes, the only solution is one that involves money. That's when the center uses relief initiative disbursements along with allocations from the community's larger charitable "partners," such as St. Vincent de Paul and Catholic Charities.

It's about filling in gaps, Ms. Crowe said. Many times, clients are able to pay a significant portion of their heating bill -- but not all of it. Of the 265 families that received $40,221 in assistance in the fiscal year ending June 30, 2009, the recipients of aid paid $14,480 toward their own bills.

Ms. Osche recently distributed an appeal, asking that church congregations, service clubs and private individuals open their hearts and their wallets this year. Education seminars on the heating assistance programs are available and can be arranged by calling United Way at 724-285-4883.

Ms. Crowe said all calls pertaining to heating a home are welcomed. "We can put people in contact with weatherization programs, even if they still have their utilities but they're worried about not being warm enough or not being able to pay their bills," she said.

The hot line received about 1,000 calls last year, but Ms. Crowe said indications are that the numbers will be higher this year.

Ms. Crowe said the people who needed help run the gamut, from senior citizens who can't make it on their monthly Social Security checks, to families headed by unemployed fathers, to single mothers with too many mouths to feed.

"We get a lot of calls from people who are deciding whether to buy food or pay their utility bill," Ms. Crowe said.

Contributions to the Butler County Emergency Relief Initiative, or BERI, fund may be made in care of United Way of Butler County, 184 Pittsburgh Road, Butler, PA 16001.

The number for the utility assistance hot line operated by Community Resources is 1-800-481-3653.

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