Energy
assistance
programs
on radar
BY TODD LUCK
1 HE CHRONICLE
U.S. Department of
Health and Human
Services' (DHHS) Low
Income Home Energy
Assistance Program
(L1HEAP) annually helps
low income individuals
with their bills related to
heating and air condition
ing in the summer.
U.S. Rep. Alma Adams
(N.C. District 12)
announced that the DHHS
has released $77.7 million
to help North Carolina
families stay warm this
winter.
Adams was among 75
members of Congress last
week who sent a letter to
DHHS urging swift release
of the funds. In total, more
than $3 billion was
released nationwide.
"This is great news for
the more than 220,000
North Carolinians who rely
on energy assistance pro
grams to keep warm during
the winter and cool during
the summer," Adams said
in a release. "No one
should have to choose
between heating their
homes or feeding their
family. This announcement
comes just in time for the
winter weather season."
During the 2015 fiscal
year, $3.35 billion in
L1HEAP funds were
released. In the 2014 fiscal
year, 6.6 million house
holds got heating assis
tance and more than 1 mil
lion households got cooling
assistance from LIHEAP.
In North Carolina, the
program is known as
LIEAP (Low Income
Energy Assistance
Program) and those in need
locally apply for the assis
tance though The Salvation
Army of Winston-Salem.
The nonprofit takes appli
cations for both LIEAP and
the federally funded Crisis
Intervention Program,
which provides heating and
cooling assistance for those
in emergencies.
Households that apply
for LIEAP don't need to be
in an emergency. It pro
vides a one-time payment
to vendors to help with
heating bills. Starting Dec.
1, seniors age 60 and over
or a disabled person receiv
ing benefits through the
Division of Aging and
Adult Services (DAAS)
can apply for LIEAP.
Beginning Jan. 1, all
other households can apply.
They need to meet an
income test, have reserves
at or below $2,250, be
responsible for their heat
ing bills and have at least
one U.S. citizen or non-cit
izen who meets the eligibil
ity criteria.
To make an appoint
ment. applicants should
call the Salvation Army
Emergency Services Office
on Cleveland Avenue once
LIEAP begins. Applicants
will need to bring docu
ments proving their identi
ty, income and assets of
those living in the house
hold. The program runs
through March or until
funds run out.
Salvation Army
Director of Social Services
Tashina Oladunjoye said
the program is so heavily
used that The Salvation
Army adds extra hours and
staff in January to help with
the requests for heating
assistance because the
agency can get hundreds of
calls a day for utility assis
tance. She said the LIEAP
assistance ranges from
$100 to $300 toward a
household's heating bill.
"We have individuals
who are the working poor -
individuals who work
every day. they work long
hours and they still cannot
meet ends, they can't get
their bills paid on time or
there's lots of overdues,"
she said. "So this helps
them"
The Salvation Army
Emergency Assistance
Office is located at 901
Cleveland Avenue and can
be contacted at 722-8721.
Delta ArtjBHHH
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Gastonia HN^H
John
BY ASHLEA JONES
FOR THE CHRONICLE
John T. Biggers (1924?
2001), an African-American
muralist, painter, educator
and Gastonia native, has not
been forgotten, Winston
Salem Delta Fine Arts
Center presents,
"Remembering John
Biggers," an exhibition of
his prints and drawings.
The exhibit, from Nov. 3,
2015, through Jan. 30, 2016,
? ii f_-A 1.. r
win ieaiure wuikk liuui
Winston-Salem Delta Fine
Arts' permanent collection
and the works from private
and public collections across
the state.
An opening reception
will be at 6 p.m. Thursday,
Nov. 5, in the Simona Atkins
Allen Gallery at Delta Arts
Center.
"Everyone should defi
nitely come out," said
Joanne Fant, an associate at
the Delta Fine Arts Center.
Biggers came into prominence after the
Harlem Renaissance. Biggers was introduced to
art at the Hampton Institute (now Hampton
University) after he enrolled in an art class
taught by art educator Viktor Lowenfeld, a
Jewish refugee from Austria.
"John Biggers is a native of North Carolina,
and we always want to celebrate the achieve
ments of our own," said Dr. Alison Fleming,
secretary of the Board of Directors and co-chair
of the exhibition committee at Winston-Salem
Delta Fine Arts Inc. "At the Delta Arts Center,
our exhibits often focus on artists in our com
munity.
Biggers
was not
only an
artist,
but an
educa
tor. He
earned
a doc
torate in
educa
tion at
P e n n
State University and taught at Texas soutnern
University. He understood the significant role
that art plays in all of our lives, and promoted
this through education ."
The relationship between Biggers and Delta
Arts Center dates back to his participation in the
landmark exhibition "Reflections: The Afro
American Artist," which was hosted by the
Delta Arts Center and held at the Benton
Convention Center in 1972.
A year after the exhibition, the center pur
chased the painting Laundry Women from
Biggers and donated it to Winston-Salem State
University (WSSU). The "Remembering John
Biggers" exhibition will feature two pieces
donated by WSSU: the Harvesters II and the
Black Key Drawing for Family Arc.
'"The Remembering John Biggers' exhibi
tion is a wonderful kind of retrospective of his
work," stated Endia Beal, director of WSSU's
Diggs Gallery. "You get to see many of his
paintings, his drawings and really look at his
study of saco geometry and the African
Aesthetic. I think the exhibition is going to be a
wonderful commemoration of all the great
things that he's done."
The current exhibition will highlight prints
and drawings created by Biggers from the
1960s to the 1990s, including a limited edition
of lithographs that accompany the poem "Our
Grandmothers" by Dr. Maya Angelou.
"John Biggers is part of an elite group of
artists that hail from North Carolina; remember
ing them and their art helps us to promote our
state, and to encourage future artists," said
Fleming. North Carolinians can relate to the
ideas and images he depicts, and these pieces
are a valuable part of our heritages."
II .1 III
Submitted photos
Two pieces of John T. Biggers' art donated for dis
play by WSSV are the Harvesters 11 and the Black
Key Drawing for Family Arc.
A mural on the O'Kelly Library at Winston-Salem
State University shows John T. Biggers' work.
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COMMUNITY
INVESTORS TO
REACH OUR
GOAL!
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