Emergency Electric Bill Payment Assistance available for Hillsborough County residents

Hillsborough County’s Home Energy Assistance Program (EHEAP) has funds immediately available to assist senior citizens and low-income households with payments of their electric bills.

Qualifications

Households that include senior citizens may qualify for Home Energy Assistance Program (EHEAP) funds if they meet the following criteria:

·         Have a total household gross income below 150 percent of the Federal Poverty Guidelines (guidelines available on the County’s Social Services webpage.)

·         Have at least one member that is 60 years or older

·         Reside in Hillsborough County

·         Are a U.S. Citizen, qualified alien or permanent resident of the U.S.

·         Have a recent past due or final notice energy bill

Low-income households can qualify for Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) funds if they meet the following criteria:

·         Have a total household gross income below 150 percent of the Federal Poverty Guidelines (guidelines available on the County’s Social Services webpage.)

·         Are responsible for paying their home heating or cooling bills

·         Reside in Hillsborough County

·         Are a U.S. Citizen, qualified alien or permanent resident of the U.S.

Additional requirements may be necessary for eligibility determination. Applicants will be informed of these requirements at the time of application.

How To Apply

Applicants will need to bring the following information with them:

·         Proof of income for all household members for the last 30 days. This proof can be a pay check stub, employer letter, public assistance check, Supplementary Security Income check, unemployment check or a pension check stub.

·         Proof of home energy obligation or electric bill

·         Picture identification

·         Proof of Hillsborough County residency, such as: valid driver’s license with current address, a letter from your landlord or mortgage company, voter’s registration card, etc.

Applications are accepted at any local Neighborhood Service Center listed below.

Neighborhood Service Centers Locations and Phone Numbers

·         Lee Davis Neighborhood Service Center, 3402 N. 22nd St. in Tampa, 813-272-5220

·         Plant City Neighborhood Service Center, 307 N. Michigan Ave. in Plant City, (813) 757-3871

·         SouthShore Community Resource Center, 201 14th Ave. S.E. in Ruskin, 813-671-7647

·         University Community Resource Center, 13605 N. 22nd St. in Tampa, 813-975-2153

·         West Tampa Neighborhood Service Center, 2103 N. Rome Ave. in Tampa, 813-272-5074

Hillsborough County’s Emergency Home Energy Assistance Program (EHEAP) and Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) are federally-funded programs offered by the Department of Family and Aging Services. For more information, contact one of the above neighborhood service centers or 813-272-6770.

Watch the movie trailer for Deaf Jam to be inspired

Deaf Jam Trailer from DeafJamdoc on Vimeo.
Aneta Brodski, a deaf teen living in New York City, discovers the power of American Sign Language poetry. As she prepares to be one of the first deaf poets to compete in a spoken-word slam, her journey leads to an unexpected collaboration.

Disability in America by the numbers infographic

4 reasons to use Twitter in your job search

In the current job market everyone needs to get creative to land a much coveted job. Utilizing new tools like social media and specifically Twitter can give you a leg up over the competition. Here are 4 reasons why Twitter can help you find new employment:

1. Twitter is free! As a result employers use it to avoid paying a hefty fee to recruiting firms. 
2. All big companies are on Twitter: Scanning all the job offers from companies you would like to work for only requires you to follow them. This simplifies your job search and might even give you first dibs when applying for a job since most new listings are announced on Twitter first.
3. Twitter is more effective than job boards since you can actually have a conversation with a hiring manager and start building a relationship before you even meet the person for an interview.
4. No discrimination against people with disabilities or other minorities since your tweets only reveal as much as you want to share.

Ultimately, you should be careful to maintain a personal but yet professional image on Twitter if you choose to use it as tool for your job search.

Share of new hires with disabilities reported as highest in 20 years

Washington, DC - The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) announced that in FY 2011, federal employees with disabilities represented 7.41 percent of the overall workforce and 11 percent when the figures include veterans who are 30 percent or more disabled. The report also shows significant increases in new hires of persons with disabilities. In FY 2011 people with disabilities represent 7.96 percent of all new hires and 14.7 percent of all new hires when veterans who are 30 percent or more disabled are also included - the highest percentage in 20 years. In total, more than 200,000 people with disabilities now work for the federal government, also the most in 20 years.

"People with disabilities are welcome in the federal family," said OPM Director John Berry. "We need the talents and creativity of all people—including people with disabilities—to help do the work of the American people.  We are doing anything possible to remove barriers to their employment, and the good news is that we're moving in the right direction, and you can see it in the numbers."

When President Obama signed Executive Order 13548 on July 26, 2010, he specifically set a goal of hiring 100,000 people with disabilities by 2015.  OPM is proud to take the lead in making that recruitment possible. In its own hiring, OPM leads all agencies in the first two quarters of 2012 with 4.2 percent of all new hires being people with targeted disabilities. In addition, in FY 2011, 22.4 percent of all hires at OPM were people with disabilities, including those veterans who were 30 percent or more disabled.

"We still have a long way to go to meet the President's 100,000 benchmark but we're well underway," said Director Berry. "I'm confident that we'll not only meet that goal, but that we will also add talented individuals to our team along the way."

Over 3,000 federal employees from more than 56 agencies have been trained on recruitment techniques and all cabinet level agencies have attended trainings hosted by OPM. The federal hiring community is better prepared to hire the talented members of the disability community by using the Schedule A excepted appointing authority to hire people with disabilities, providing reasonable accommodation, the Computer/Electronic Accommodations Program (CAP), and getting employees who become ill or injured on the job back to work.

To view the report, please visit: http://www.opm.gov/diversityandinclusion/reports/disability/index.aspx.