YOur home, Our Home

Hard times can happen to anyone.

Each winter, more than 30 million people in the United States struggle to keep their homes warm. Behind that statistic are neighbors, coworkers, family members, and friends facing impossible choices between heat, food, medicine, or even keeping a beloved pet.

Since 1983, the Washington Area Fuel Fund (WAFF) has been a lifeline for households facing those moments. A job loss. An illness. An accident. Sudden expenses that any of us can face.

WAFF exists to stop short-term hardship from becoming a long-term crisis.

A warm home changes everything.

Across 43 years, WAFF has distributed more than $34 million in emergency heating assistance, helping over 320,000 people across the Washington region find warmth, stability, and relief. Each year, more households turn to WAFF when winter bills become unmanageable. Every gift makes an immediate difference for a local family.

In 2026, WAFF entered a new chapter as an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, focusing on households that rely on natural gas heating. This helps each dollar go further, increasing impact while preserving our mission to make sure no family faces winter without heat.

We are also proud to announce that we have expanded our service territory to more counties and cities in Maryland and Virginia. WAFF now reaches over 8.8 million people and strengthens our region’s safety net.

We are guided by a dedicated Board of Directors made up of community leaders and a utility representative, committed to transparency, accountability, and responsible stewardship.

On behalf of thousands of families who turn to WAFF each year, thank you for transforming cold houses into warm homes.