Ivey awards local CCA $1.6M grant
MONTGOMERY — Community Action Agency of Northwest Alabama Inc. was awarded nearly $1.6 million by Gov. Kay Ivey for heating and cooling assistance programs. The agency serves citizens of Franklin, Lauderdale and Colbert and counties.
The grant is one of several totaling $43.8 million Ivey awarded to 18 community action agencies across the state to provide emergency assistance to help low-income residents cover heating and cooling costs in their homes.
“This is a blessing to have,” said Community Action Agency of Northwest Alabama Executive Director David Crosby. “That money will go to help people in need — in low-income and crisis situations.”
The crisis situations that qualify someone for assistance include utilities being cut off for those over 60, those who have medical conditions and those with children in the home.
Crosby explained the agency receives an amount via the grant annually for the Low-Income Heating and Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP).
Folks who qualify are eligible to receive general assistance and crisis assistance once each season.
Heating season takes place from October to April, and cooling season takes place from May to September, which means those eligible can receive assistance four times per year.
The funds are vital for the organization, he said, because since the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a steady uptick in requests for assistance each year.
Over 3,000 assistance requests were fulfilled in 2025 alone — and funding ran out mid-December.
As a result, Crosby is counting the days until the funds are released to the agency, likely at the end of January.
“For this month and a half that we’re without funds, it’s horrible to have to turn people away due to lack of funding,” he said, though he noted it is fairly common to run out of funding before the end of the year.
This grant, he said, will expire Sept. 30, 2026, so he is concerned that, depending on the release of federal funding, there could be as much as a four-month gap in funding at the end of 2026.
“We’ve learned to deal with what’s in front of us … and go with what we’re handed,” Crosby said. “This is a big help to our communities and to our utility companies. When folks can’t pay to have their utilities hooked back up, we can help. This is one of our largest programs.”
The Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs will administer the grants from funds from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Ivey stressed the importance of the grants in providing aid to vulnerable populations during difficult seasons.
“The cost of heating a home during the coldest parts of winter and cooling it during the hottest parts of summer can pose a challenge for those who are most vulnerable and have extremely limited incomes,” she said.
