Following a house fire earlier this week in which a Petworth woman died while attempting to heat her home, the Downtown Cluster of Congregations is pressing the District to help residents without heat in advance of cold weather forecast for Sunday.
Executive Director Terry Lynch said he believes there are thousands of District residents who could be affected by the cold because they do not have heat.
He sent an e-mail to Corey Buffo, director of the District Department of the Environment, and Richard Kirby of the D.C. Energy Office, Friday asking that they get the word out about fuel-assistance programs, as well as for exact numbers of people living in the District without utilities. The letter was also forwarded to the D.C. Council.
“The city really needs to jump on this and reach out,” Lynch said Friday. Kirby could not be reached Friday, but he did send Lynch an e-mail saying his office was working on his request. Buffo said his office offers subsidized help, which is advertised locally.
“The manager for that program is addressing the issue,” Buffo said.
Lynch, whose organization represents area churches, said the District needs to develop a better grassroots approach to alert residents about how to take care of themselves in the cold.
The woman who died in the fire was in her 60s, and the utilities had been cut to her home, Lynch said.
“The poor are invisible until these tragedies happen,” Lynch said.
