ALBANY — New Yorkers facing uncertainty about how they’ll pay their heating bills this winter or feeling the effects of the federal delays on food assistance funding earlier this month have a lifeline to reach out to.

The HEARS Family Line, which is operated by the state’s Office of Children and Family Services, assists families with referrals to a variety of local and state providers, with residents connected to resources providing housing, child care and medical care.

The federal government is currently delaying funding to the Home Energy Assistance Program, with the state awaiting the release of $400 million in federal funds for residents to heat their homes this winter.

Funding delays for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program food benefits, due to the government shutdown earlier this month, resulted in increased demand at food pantries. The state issued full SNAP benefits for recipients in the interim and the program is now fully restored following the end of the shutdown.

Residents facing food insecurity can contact the HEARS Family Line at 1-888-554-3277 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday to receive assistance from state and local groups.

“We know that the federal government has reinstated the SNAP funding in full, so fortunately families have that resource,” OCFS Commissioner DaMia Harris-Madden said Tuesday. “However, we want to make sure that for those families not receiving SNAP, that they too have access to meals. Food insecurity is not relegated just to the lowest-income earners, it’s happening across many families across the state.”

The HEARS line, which is available in a dozen languages, is not designed to respond to emergency calls, with callers directed to local or state aid depending on the circumstances.

Harris-Madden noted the holiday season can often lead to difficulties for families beyond the federal cuts, with many experiencing mental health issues tied to the season.

“The whole purpose of HEARS is to support families and connect them to resources.”

Contact Ted Remsnyder at

tremsnyder@dailygazette.net.

Follow him on X @TedRemsnyder.

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Black ice, snow showers and fog pestered post-holiday travelers in the Midwest on Monday while the Northeast geared up for its first major snowstorm of the season.

More than 8 inches of snow fell at Chicago O’Hare International Airport this weekend, setting a record for the highest single calendar day snowfall in November at the airport, according to the National Weather Service. The previous record was set in 1951.

About 300 flights into and out of O’Hare had been canceled by early Sunday evening, while about 1,600 had been delayed, according to the tracking site FlightAware. Dozens remained canceled or delayed there into Monday, and commuting conditions on roads were expected to remain dangerous in some areas well into Monday night.

In the Northeast, some parts of northern New England were expecting up to 10 inches of snow. A windy, potentially icy storm was headed to the region, and could soak some parts of the region’s six states while piling snow in others, forecasters said.

The National Weather Service issued winter storm warnings and winter weather advisories in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine, Connecticut and New York.

Pennsylvania prepares for snow

With plowable snow expected to coat large parts of Pennsylvania, crews began to treat lanes along the 565-mile Pennsylvania Turnpike system on Monday, said the agency’s press........

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