The Opportunities Industrialization Center (OIC) of Washington is providing low-income households with assistance in paying their heating bills during the winter months. OIC’s funding for this program covers low-income households who live in: North Yakima County including Union Gap, Moxee, Naches, Gleed, Selah, Tieton, and West Valley. Residents of Upper Yakima Valley, you can register for an appointment by going to www.yvoic.org or call our office at 509-452-7145 for assistance. Residents of Grant and Adams County, please call (509) 765-9206 to schedule an appointment. Due to the current health pandemic, appointments will be completed over the phone. After the phone intake is completed clients will be responsible to mail in their required documentation. Please note, appointments are issued on a first come first serve basis.

Area served:
North Yakima County, Grant and Adams County

How This Process Works

    MUST reside in Upper Yakima County, or of Grant, Adams County.

    Household can only receive one benefit between the months of October 1, 2020 to June 30, 2021

    Must be income eligible and provide all the required documentation. Incomplete applications will not receive a benefit.

    After your application is complete a benefit is determined and sent directly to your heat vendor.

    Coronavirus update: OIC of Washington has established specific measures to help protect our employees from exposure to COVID-19 and to curve the potential spread of the virus in customer homes and our facilities across the State of Washington. We are closely following recommendations from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). This includes recommendations on social distancing. These temporary practices differ from our normal operating standards; however, we hope to provide the best customer service to our community during these difficult times. If you have appointments scheduled you will be called for a phone intake and will be instructed on documentation needed to submit.

The Low Income Home Energy Assistance program is called LIHEAP. They assist low income people and families with their heating and cooling bills. This program is therefore, a year long program that is available 12 months a year. To qualify for the LIHEAP assistance, you need to qualify. We provide the current Federal Poverty Rates nationwide below.

You are automatically qualified for LIHEAP assistance if you participate in the SNAP food stamps program, TANF Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, or the SSI program through Social Security.

Federal Poverty Guidelines for 2024

Persons In Family	Earnings (100% Fed Poverty Guideline)
1	$15,060
2	$20,440
3	$25,820
4	$31,200
5	$36,580
6	$41,960
7	$47,340
8	$52,720

*Alaska and Hawaii have different rates for HUD federal poverty guidelines.
These numbers above represent 100% of the Federal Poverty Rate. In order to get legal aid from some offices, they use a sliding fee scale. When they use a sliding fee scale, the 100% rate can be different than 100%. In those cases, using for example a 200% federal poverty level, you will only need double the 100% number listed above to 200%.

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