Running Strong’s Heat Match Program Keeps Pine Ridge Warm
For tens of thousands of residents on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in the Great Plains of South Dakota, the winter can often be brutal. With many days of below-freezing temperatures and sub-zero wind chill factors, harsh weather is common on the plains.
That’s why, for more than 20 years, thanks to the supporters of Running Strong, we have been able to keep children, parents, and elders warm on the reservation through our Heat Match program, which supplements families’ meager budgets for propane or utility bills.
How the Heat Match Program Works
Beginning this month, households on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation can apply for funding to help them keep warm in their homes all winter long. The Heat Match program provides a 1:4 match, with each family contributing $100 and Running Strong matching it with $400 for a total of $500. This amount will fill a propane tank to last six weeks or be applied as a credit on their utility bill.
Expanding Our Reach This Year
This year, we are not only starting the program earlier and managing it at the Oyate Ta Kola Ku Community Center, but also expanding our reach on the vast reservation. We are including four utility vendors, which expands the program’s reach so that we can cover the entire reservation.
Anticipated Impact
During this winter season, we anticipate serving 2,000 families, amounting to approximately 9,000 individuals, including many veterans.
That $500 from the Heat Match goes a long way towards keeping the heat on in homes—many of them mobile homes with little, if any, insulation, and drafty windows and door frames which offer little protection from the frigid winds.
As one Heat Match recipient last winter told us:
“If it wasn’t for Running Strong, we just wouldn’t know how we would be able to pay our electric bill this month.”
