Project REACH offers a lifeline to Las Vegas senior citizens struggling with utility bills

Karen Maldonado walked into an vigor assistance programme for Las Vegas country elder citizens astatine Sam’s Town a fewer minutes aft the lawsuit started.

Judging by the enactment that wrapped astir the property, there’s a important need.

Maldonado grabbed a fig — 193 — and took her seat, chatting excitedly with different elder citizens waiting to get fiscal enactment for their past-due inferior bills done the Project REACH (Relief Through Energy Assistance to Prevent Customer Hardships) Senior Expo event.

In nether 2 hours, Maldonado was capable to get enactment for her electric, gas, h2o and sewage bills, past get recertified for the Cox Communications affordable connectivity programme and NV Energy’s expanded star entree program. Nearly 200 seniors received assistance astatine the event, organizers said.

“Wow, I did not cognize that determination were truthful galore different radical similar maine present too,” Maldonado said with tears successful her eyes. “You didn’t consciousness similar you were the lone one, the unusual antheral out.”

The lawsuit past week was the archetypal of 4 inferior assistance expos implicit the adjacent 2 weeks.

The yearly events get astir a period aft the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada approved a petition from NV Energy to temporarily trim quarterly rates for customers successful July, August and September by betwixt astir 5% and 16%.

Project REACH was created arsenic a inferior assistance programme funded by the NV Energy Foundation — the company’s assemblage work subdivision — to assistance residents wage their vigor bills, said Tony Sanchez, enforcement vice president of concern improvement and outer relations astatine NV Energy.

Seniors ages 62 years and older, “medically fragile” adults and subject members who conscionable definite income guidelines tin use for measure assistance erstwhile each twelvemonth connected a rolling basis.

The expo is enhanced this summertime with NV Energy Foundation partnering with United Way of Southern Nevada to supply in-person measure assistance, said Julian High, president and CEO of United Way of Southern Nevada.

In the past, the lawsuit — past called the Senior Energy Assistance Expo — was a one-day matter astatine Cashman Center led by NV Energy and with the assistance of partners similar Southwest Gas.

This year, NV Energy provided United Way of Southern Nevada with a $500,000 assistance to tally this programme for the archetypal time, High said.

“People are having to marque choices betwixt buying their medicine and putting state successful their car, oregon buying their medicine and paying their inferior bill,” High said. “Hopefully, Project REACH provides immoderate alleviation for that successful this season.”

In summation to gathering the property requirements, eligible customers indispensable person a past-due inferior measure successful the sanction and work code of the applicant and conscionable national income eligibility guidelines to suffice for assistance.

For a azygous senior, that means they tin marque up to $29,160 annually — oregon $2,430 a period — to person fiscal support, officials said.

Individuals oregon households that use whitethorn person up to $300 successful measure assistance from NV Energy, an magnitude that was doubled successful 2021 amid rising ostentation and earthy state prices, Sanchez said.

The terms of earthy gas, which NV Energy uses to substance its electrical generating stations, has risen astir 500% since 2021, according to the utilities commission.

This year, for the archetypal clip ever, seniors were capable to person enactment not lone for their electrical bills, but their gas, h2o and sewage arsenic well.

High said that it whitethorn beryllium much hard for elder citizens, who whitethorn acquisition fiscal arsenic good arsenic aesculapian issues, to question astir the portion for assorted services. This is wherefore galore agencies successful the nonprofit assemblage “are moving unneurotic to marque benignant of one-stop buying much of a world for the astir vulnerable.”

“For our customers, it’s not ever casual to get around,” Sanchez said. “You tin spot the fig of walkers, electrical scooters — and sometimes their kids person to bring them — and we privation to marque it arsenic casual for them arsenic possible,” Sanchez said.

Maldonado, 75, worked arsenic a switchboard relation connected the Las Vegas Strip for 25 years and spent implicit 10 years moving part-time arsenic an usher until retiring 4 years ago.

The grandmother, whose hubby died 2 decades ago, said she made little than $24,000 a year, she said. And adjacent connected her fixed income, she tries to dainty her 8-year-old grandson with outings.

The grandson, Maldonado said, “always knows ‘Mama, is it successful the budget?’ due to the fact that I ever archer him that it’s not successful the fund … And he’s learned and helium accepts it erstwhile I accidental it’s not successful the budget.”

Jennifer Beckwith, manager of selling for United Way of Southern Nevada, said astir 1,000 elder residents attended the archetypal 2 events past week. Project REACH supported 1,815 households past year, and Beckwith said they were expecting that to summation by 25% erstwhile the events wrapper up.

High explained that it was “indicative of wherever we are astatine this constituent successful presumption of vigor costs and state bills and nutrient bills and each those things that truly person unit points connected seniors connected fixed incomes.”

The task has a brace of events this week — 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. contiguous astatine Aliante Casino successful North Las Vegas and 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. Thursday astatine Palace Station.

Residents should bring their authorities driver’s licence oregon recognition card, a transcript of their existent past-due inferior measure and impervious of income oregon pending income — which tin see a paycheck stub, Social Security connection oregon existent income taxation records.

Those who cannot be 1 of the expo dates tin inactive use for past-due inferior measure assistance by calling 702-402-5200.

“We promote your readers to — you know, (it) mightiness not interaction them, but possibly their parents oregon friends oregon anybody that mightiness cognize — delight scope retired to america and we’ll marque definite they’re taken attraction of,” Sanchez said.

[email protected] / 702-948-7854 / @gracedarocha