Project SHARE is a charitably funded assistance program created in 1982 as a partnership between the Birmingham Area Chapter of the American Red Cross and Alabama Power, which provided $50,000 in seed money.
Two years later, the Alabama Gas Corporation joined the partnership with a $25,000 contribution and a one-time dispersal of $304,222.
The program, which will celebrate its 25th birthday next year, is administered by the Birmingham Area Chapter of the Red Cross and provides assistance to the elderly, age 62 and above, and disabled who are facing financial or medical problems.
“We help the most vulnerable people in our community,” Project SHARE Director Wilma Sims-Moore said. “These are people in need and we do as much as we can for them.”
Ms. Sims-Moore said Project SHARE, which stands for Service to Help Alabamians with Relief on Energy, raises between $1.4 and $1.5 million annually and provides aid to about 14,000 households each year in a six county area. She said the program is funded totally through $1 monthly contributions from customers of the utility partners.
The program offers grants twice a year and has dispersed $24.7 million and helped more than 250,000 households since it began. Ms. Sims-Moore said the program’s grant averages about $150 but can go up to $225.
Project Share has been a member of the National Fuel Funds Network since 1993. In 2005, the program was a recipient of a grant from NFFN’s Katrina Assistance Fund, which raised funds nationally to support energy assistance funds for hurricane victims.