Even on a September day with the temperature in the 60’s there’s a chill over The North Country.
Many folks aren’t thinking about the fall foliage.
They’re worrying about staying warm.
“I think with these prices we are very afraid that there are going to be people freezing to death this winter.
That’s Paul Robitaille, the center manager for ServiceLink of Coos County.He works with the elderly.
“Seniors are going to be making choices between food, medication and fuel. That is a tough thing for people in their 70’s and 80’s to have to make those kinds of decisions.”
He’s not alone in his concern for the health of North Country residents.
Martha McLeod, the executive director of the North Country Health Consortium, says people with limited incomes are being forced to make tough decisions.
“What we find is they prioritize basics such as maybe their shelter or heat before they will buy food and medication.”
Robitaille says he’s seeing that, too.
“I have clients who have come in and tell me they only fill up half a prescription, or they take their pills and cut them in half at home or they will take one prescription for one month and another one for another month. That is going on right now.”
Along Main Street in Berlin merchants have already been looking at thin profit margins.
Cindy Morin, the owner of a shoe store, says she and her husband already cutback on their health insurance last year.
Asked whether energy costs are a problem ….
“Oh, my God yes. Absolutely. It is like ‘wow.’”
Their 10 year building is energy efficient. But she’s seen their heating cost increase about 300 percent – despite keeping the thermostat down.
“It has affected the bottom line dramatically.”
Morin figures she’ll keep the temperature down. Maybe they’ll have shorter hours.
“It is something we haven’t dealt with before. I don’t know what we are going to do. But there comes a point when you say, this is absolutely ridiculous.”
Businesses that lease space are temporarily protected by fixed rents.
Dick Poulin owns several buildings in Berlin.Like many people he watched the oil prices go up and up and up, hoping it would stop..
“But it wasn’t stopping and I think for a lot of people that was terrifying. I think everybody is keeping quiet, but they are afraid.”
His tenants have contracts so he can’t pass the heating cost along.
When those leases are up he can increase the rent but not enough to cover the increased cost.
“You have to raise it but at the same time you never can get it to what it used to be because these people have to survive, too. You can make it impossible for the tenants so they can’t stay and they can’t survive and you are worse off. So you have that terrible balance that you just want to be above breaking even.”
Domestic violence centers, like the Burch House in Bethlehem, are also facing trouble.
FURNACE SOUND
That’s the furnace in Burch House.For director Jeanne Robillard , it’s the sound of money going up in flames.
In her tiny office, where a piece of cardboard covers a broken window pane, she looks through the bills.
Last year she paid about $14,000 for heat. This year she figures she’ll need at least $3,500 more. Without a big increase in donations that means less money to help women in desperate need.
“Most of them have been rendered homeless because of some kind of violence in their home. They have had to flee their home. They have no where else to go. Some of them, we take them right off the street because they have been in the car with their kids. They come here. They don’t have any clothing. They’ve got what they left the house with and they need help with everything right from rebuilding a life from the very ground up.”
Robillard is predicting more women will need help this winter.Higher heating costs may mean financial problems, stress and a greater chance of violence.
She’s worried that the small number of shelters in the north country will have to turn women away.
In Berlin – just before 10 a.m. – the folks at the Meals on Wheels kitchen are busy.
SOUND OF COUNTING AND TALK ABOUT SOUP.
They’re preparing to send out meals to about 75 people, mostly elderly and homebound.
In a year Meals on Wheels will serve about 141,000 meals in Coos.
But the higher gas prices are posing a problem.
Leila Villeneuve is the manager of meals on wheels in Berlin.
“I know that volunteers just can’t afford to utilize their vehicles anymore due to the high price of gas and we do want to provide the service to our seniors so we’re looking at cutbacks in other areas that will not affect the seniors.”For NHPR News this is Chris Jensen.
Many folks aren’t thinking about the fall foliage.
They’re worrying about staying warm.
“I think with these prices we are very afraid that there are going to be people freezing to death this winter.
That’s Paul Robitaille, the center manager for ServiceLink of Coos County.He works with the elderly.
“Seniors are going to be making choices between food, medication and fuel. That is a tough thing for people in their 70’s and 80’s to have to make those kinds of decisions.”
He’s not alone in his concern for the health of North Country residents.
Martha McLeod, the executive director of the North Country Health Consortium, says people with limited incomes are being forced to make tough decisions.
“What we find is they prioritize basics such as maybe their shelter or heat before they will buy food and medication.”
Robitaille says he’s seeing that, too.
“I have clients who have come in and tell me they only fill up half a prescription, or they take their pills and cut them in half at home or they will take one prescription for one month and another one for another month. That is going on right now.”
Along Main Street in Berlin merchants have already been looking at thin profit margins.
Cindy Morin, the owner of a shoe store, says she and her husband already cutback on their health insurance last year.
Asked whether energy costs are a problem ….
“Oh, my God yes. Absolutely. It is like ‘wow.’”
Their 10 year building is energy efficient. But she’s seen their heating cost increase about 300 percent – despite keeping the thermostat down.
“It has affected the bottom line dramatically.”
Morin figures she’ll keep the temperature down. Maybe they’ll have shorter hours.
“It is something we haven’t dealt with before. I don’t know what we are going to do. But there comes a point when you say, this is absolutely ridiculous.”
Businesses that lease space are temporarily protected by fixed rents.
Dick Poulin owns several buildings in Berlin.Like many people he watched the oil prices go up and up and up, hoping it would stop..
“But it wasn’t stopping and I think for a lot of people that was terrifying. I think everybody is keeping quiet, but they are afraid.”
His tenants have contracts so he can’t pass the heating cost along.
When those leases are up he can increase the rent but not enough to cover the increased cost.
“You have to raise it but at the same time you never can get it to what it used to be because these people have to survive, too. You can make it impossible for the tenants so they can’t stay and they can’t survive and you are worse off. So you have that terrible balance that you just want to be above breaking even.”
Domestic violence centers, like the Burch House in Bethlehem, are also facing trouble.
FURNACE SOUND
That’s the furnace in Burch House.For director Jeanne Robillard , it’s the sound of money going up in flames.
In her tiny office, where a piece of cardboard covers a broken window pane, she looks through the bills.
Last year she paid about $14,000 for heat. This year she figures she’ll need at least $3,500 more. Without a big increase in donations that means less money to help women in desperate need.
“Most of them have been rendered homeless because of some kind of violence in their home. They have had to flee their home. They have no where else to go. Some of them, we take them right off the street because they have been in the car with their kids. They come here. They don’t have any clothing. They’ve got what they left the house with and they need help with everything right from rebuilding a life from the very ground up.”
Robillard is predicting more women will need help this winter.Higher heating costs may mean financial problems, stress and a greater chance of violence.
She’s worried that the small number of shelters in the north country will have to turn women away.
In Berlin – just before 10 a.m. – the folks at the Meals on Wheels kitchen are busy.
SOUND OF COUNTING AND TALK ABOUT SOUP.
They’re preparing to send out meals to about 75 people, mostly elderly and homebound.
In a year Meals on Wheels will serve about 141,000 meals in Coos.
But the higher gas prices are posing a problem.
Leila Villeneuve is the manager of meals on wheels in Berlin.
“I know that volunteers just can’t afford to utilize their vehicles anymore due to the high price of gas and we do want to provide the service to our seniors so we’re looking at cutbacks in other areas that will not affect the seniors.”For NHPR News this is Chris Jensen.
