LOS ANGELES, April 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Southern California Gas Co. (SoCalGas) today announced it has donated $10,000 to local non-profit, Hope Through Housing Foundation. The funds will be used to provide weekly meals to low-income seniors who reside in the Dumosa Senior Village affordable housing community in Yucca Valley, and to provide additional assistance to vulnerable residents during the COVID-19 crisis. SoCalGas and Hope Through Housing have partnered with local Yucca Valley restaurant John's Place to deliver individually packaged lunches once a week to each of the 85 seniors living at the property for the next month.  In addition, Hope Through Housing will be providing regular well-being calls, individual resource assistance, and virtual financial counseling to residents in need.

"SoCalGas is thrilled to be able to partner with the Hope Through Housing Foundation and John's Place and provide meals to seniors in need," said Trisha Muse, director of community relations at SoCalGas. "SoCalGas believes it is important to support the communities we serve, not just by providing affordable and reliable natural gas service but also through these small acts of kindness and lending a helping hand to our friends and neighbors." 

"During this challenging time, this grant will help us feed and provide individual assistance to vulnerable seniors, many of whom are homebound with limited support – with a double impact by supporting a local, family-owned business," said Gregory Bradbard, President of Hope Through Housing.

"Right now, it is crucial for communities to come together and help one another where needed, said John Tsiolis, owner of John's Place. "We are grateful SoCalGas and Hope Through Housing Foundation reached out to us to provide these meals and not only gave business to a small restaurant like ours during these trying and unprecedented times, but also gave us the opportunity to make a big impact in our community."

In 1998, the Hope through Housing Foundation was established to empower residents of National Community Renaissance (National CORE) properties, one of the largest nonprofit affordable housing developers in the country. Wanting to do more to help the children, families and seniors who lived in its communities, the Hope through Housing Foundation was created to deliver a broad range of charitable and educational programs for children, young adults, low-income and underprivileged families and seniors and the general public.

Last year, SoCalGas donated more than $7.6 million to community organizations, local non-profits and other groups. SoCalGas employees contributed more than $750,000 dollars through payroll deductions and performed over 24,000 logged volunteer hours for various community groups throughout its service territory. Please see SoCalGas' 2019 Community Giving Summary for more information.

For further information: Patrice Clayton, SoCalGas Office of Media and Public Information, (213) 244-2442, pclayton@socalgas.com; or Gregory Bradbard, Hope Through Housing Foundation & National CORE, (909) 204-3436, gbradbard@hthf.org.

SoCalGas COVID-19 Response

Last month, SoCalGas announced a $1 million donation to nonprofit organizations throughout its service area to support the region's workforce, feed the hungry, and provide bill assistance to customers most affected by the coronavirus.

Together, the Sempra Energy family of companies – including SoCalGas' sister California utility San Diego Gas and Electric and the Sempra Energy Foundation – are stepping up with more than $7 million to those in need during this crisis.

SoCalGas has also suspended service disconnections until further notice. This means no residential or small business customer will have their natural gas turned off due to non-payment. SoCalGas has also temporarily waived late fees for small business customers. Late fees are never charged for residential customers.

Natural gas continues to flow and is being delivered to SoCalGas' 22 million customers across southern and central California, just as it does on a "typical" day.  There is no shortage of supply of natural gas for homes or businesses or to power plants that generate electricity.

Under the Governor's recent Executive Order, members of the critical infrastructure sector, including natural gas providers, are considered necessary to the security, economic security, public health and safety of California.

SoCalGas continues to perform work needed to safely and reliably maintain its natural gas infrastructure and to provide communities with safe and reliable energy services. SoCalGas also continues to make essential and emergency service appointments, including reports of suspected natural gas leaks, carbon monoxide checks, gas meter turn-ons, natural gas outage and pilot re-lights while protecting the safety of our workforce, customers and the communities we serve .

For more information about SoCalGas' response to the COVID-19 pandemic, visit www.socalgas.com/coronavirus.

Hope Through Housing COVID-19 Response

During this challenging time, the Hope Through Housing Foundation (HTHF) is uniquely positioned to respond to the immediate and sustained needs of thousands of low‐income families and seniors across Southern California and Texas. Utilizing our on‐site Community Centers and long‐standing relationships with residents living within 70+ National CORE affordable apartment communities, we have the ability to deliver resources and support right where residents live throughout and beyond the COVID‐19 crisis.

To address the pressing needs of our residents, Hope Through Housing has launched the COVID‐19 Emergency Response & Resilience Fund.  Dollars contributed to the fund will directly support response efforts to meet the immediate needs of residents during the time of crisis and will help facilitate resilience and a full recovery by residents in the aftermath of this time.  

Specifically, HTHF's response and resilience efforts include the following:

• Immediate distribution of food, household items, and other needed supplies to ensure residents – especially seniors and those with disabilities – can safely remain at home while meeting their basic needs.
• Resource coordination by dedicated Hope Service Coordinators available via telephone to connect residents with community resources and other important health information – including medication and grocery delivery, unemployment assistance, and transportation.
• Service Coordinators are also performing virtual welfare checks on vulnerable residents to ensure their well‐being while quarantined at home.
• Healthcare navigation by our Service Coordinators will also ensure residents have quality information about COVID‐19, access to medical support, and assistance understanding and receiving quality medical care to address relevant health needs.
• Economic assistance to ensure residents remain housed and are able to meet their ongoing household needs. Short term, this may include access to unemployment benefits, rent and utility assistance, and supplemental resources to help reduce expenses. Long term, our focus will shift to helping residents recover from this period through employment & education assistance and the development of budgeting/money management skills.

For more information, visit www.HTHF.org/relief.  

About Hope through Housing

The Hope through Housing Foundation is committed to elevating the health, well-being, and self-sufficiency of low-income families and seniors.  Hope through Housing delivers quality services within over 70 affordable housing sites, helping children and teens achieve success, improving families' financial well-being, and promoting seniors' health and wellness. For more information on Hope through Housing, please visit www.hthf.org.

About SoCalGas

Headquartered in Los Angeles, SoCalGas® is the largest gas distribution utility in the United States. SoCalGas delivers affordable, reliable, clean and increasingly renewable gas service to 21.8 million customers across 24,000 square miles of Central and Southern California, where more than 90 percent of residents use natural gas for heating, hot water, cooking, drying clothes or other uses. Gas delivered through the company's pipelines also plays a key role in providing electricity to Californians— about 45 percent of electric power generated in the state comes from gas-fired power plants.

SoCalGas' vision is to be the cleanest gas utility in North America, delivering affordable and increasingly renewable energy to its customers. In support of that vision, SoCalGas is committed to replacing 20 percent of its traditional natural gas supply with renewable natural gas (RNG) by 2030. Renewable natural gas is made from waste created by dairy farms, landfills and wastewater treatment plants. SoCalGas is also committed to investing in its gas delivery infrastructure while keeping bills affordable for our customers. From 2014 through 2018, the company invested nearly $6.5 billion to upgrade and modernize its pipeline system to enhance safety and reliability. SoCalGas is a subsidiary of Sempra Energy (NYSE: SRE), an energy services holding company based in San Diego. For more information visit socalgas.com/newsroom or connect with SoCalGas on Twitter (@SoCalGas), Instagram (@SoCalGas) and Facebook.  

SOURCE Southern California Gas Company