THE REVERE ADVOCATE – FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2020 Page 15 AG awards grant funding to organizations to help low-income residents pay heating bills W ith the cold weather season approaching, on November 11, Attorney General Maura Healey announced that she has awarded nearly $570,000 in grant funding to 14 organizations across the state to help low-income households pay off or lower their natural gas heating bills. As the state’s ratepayer advocate, Healey works to ensure that customers do not pay more for their natural gas service than they should. “Each winter, thousands of Massachusetts households struggle to come up with the funds to pay their monthly heating bills, and we expect many more to be in need this year amid the COVID-19 public health crisis,” said Healey. “This grant program will help us ensure that families have the fi nancial support they need to stay warm during the cold months.” This year the Natural Gas Fuel Assistance Grant program is providing approximately $569,000 to programs run through state agencies, municipalities and nonprofit organizations that currently assist residents in paying for gas service. Approximately one-in-four low-income eligible households in Massachusetts currently receive assistance on their heating bills, and many more are expected to need help this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This grant program aims to close that gap by helping families who are in need but are not currently receiving assistance or not receiving enough help in paying their monthly bills. The grant program uses funds from a settlement that Massachusetts Attorney General’s Offi ce reached with National Grid for improperly charging customers reconnection fees. Since 2018 the grant program has awarded more than $2 million to programs and initiatives that provide fuel assistance. The Offi ce awarded grant funding to the following organizations: • Casa Myrna (Greater Boston and Boston Harbor communities in Middlesex and Norfolk Counties): The organization will provide funds to survivors of domestic and dating violence who need assistance paying natural gas bills. • The Massachusetts Association for Community Action (MASSCAP) (statewide): MASSCAP will provide 22 statewide organizations with additional funds to help natural gas customers who participate in the federal Low Income and Home Energy Assistance Program as well as those who do not qualify for the program but make less than 80 percent of the state median income. • City of Marlborough: The municipally run heating assistance program will use the funds to enhance its current fuel assisGRANT | SEE Page 16 ~ LEGAL NOTICE ~ In the matter of: Of: To the named Respondent and all other interested persons, a in the is in need on the return date of Like us on Facebook advocate newspaper Facebook.com/Advocate.news.ma Dear Tom, Thanks to the Internet, tracking down long-lost friends from many years ago is relatively easy to do and, in most cases, it won’t cost you a cent. Here are some tips and online tools to help you get started. Remembering the Details Before you begin your search, a good irst step is to jot down any information you can remember or ind out about the people you’re trying to locate. Things like their full name (maiden and married), age or birth date, last known address or phone number, old e-mail address, names of family members, etc. Knowing details can help you turn up clues while you search. Social Media and Search Engines After you compile your information, a good place to start your search is at social media sites like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram. And search engines like Google and Yahoo. When using search engines, type in the name of the person you’re searching for in quotation marks, for example, “John Smith.” You can narrow your search by adding other criteria like their nickname or middle name, the city or state they may live in, or even their occupation. People Search Sites If your initial search comes up empty, you can also use people searches like AnyWho. com, Intelius.com or WhitePages.com. These sites will provide a list of potential matches from across the U.S. Because many people share the same name, these sites will also supply details to help identify the right person, perhaps including their age, prior hometowns, names of relatives, colleges attended or employer. While these sites are free to use at a basic level, they charge a small fee for providing certain details like the persons conHow to Track Down Old Friends Online Dear Savvy Senior, I’m interested in tracking down some old friends I’ve lost touch with over the years but could use some help. What websites can you recommend that can help me fi nd them? Tracking Tom tact information. White Pages, however, sometimes provides home phone numbers for free. Niche Finding Sites Here are a few other niche people-inding websites to help you with your search. To look for old high school classmates, try Classmates. com. This site has contact information only for people who have registered with it. But even if your friend hasn’t registered, it could provide contact info for another classmate who remains in touch with your friend. Another option is to check out your high school alumni website. Not every school has its own site, but some do, and you can look for it by going to any search engine and typing in the name of the school with the city and state it’s located in. You can also search at AlumniClass.com, a huge hosting site for thousands of high schools across the U.S. If you’re looking for old college friends, look for an alumni directory on the school’s website. You might be able to access your friend’s contact info by completing an online registration. Or, try calling or emailing your alumni relations department and ask them to pass on your contact info to your friend. If you’re looking for someone you served with in the military, Military.com offers a free “Buddy Finder” service that has a database of more than 20 million records – visit Military.com/buddy-inder. You can also search for free at GIsearch. com, TogetherWeServed.com and VetFriends.com. If you can’t ind any current information about the person you’re searching for, it could be that he or she is dead. To ind out if that’s the case, use obituary databases such as Tributes.com and Legacy.com, which has a newspaper obituary search tool from hundreds of U.S. newspapers. Send your senior questions to: Savvy Senior, P.O. Box 5443, Norman, OK 73070, or visit SavvySenior.org. Jim Miller is a contributor to the NBC Today show and author of “The Savvy Senior” book.
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