Harold Kettleson has burned wood to heat his Southeast Portland home for decades. The 85-year-old said it’s all he’s ever known.

“I remember mom cooking food on a wood stove,” Kettleson said. “Growing up, all we had was a wood stove for heat.”

But as the years creep up on him, Kettleson said descending down the steep wooden staircase into his basement to throw fresh logs on the fire is taking its toll. His wife, Helen Thorne, who is 82 and has neuropathy, can’t go down the stairs either.

Up until last month, the stove was their sole source of heat. That was until Multnomah County fronted the cost to install a new heat pump. The county wrapped up its work on the 103-year-old home Jan. 30.

Their home is one of over 120 that still relied on wood, oil or natural gas stoves for heat before the county installed new heat pumps through its Wood Stove Exchange program, county data shows. Due to unstable funding, officials say Kettleson and Thorne could also be one of the last families served through the program.

“It’s going to be a lot easier on me,” Kettleson said. “And it’ll be a lot better for (my wife) because she can go over there and turn the heat up when she wants to.”

The county program launched in 2022 with $500,000 in one-time funding as a pilot to assist low-income families in high-pollutant neighborhoods. It has again received one-time funding in each of the last two fiscal years as part of the county’s climate resilience efforts.

Last year, the county launched another similar pilot program that provides heat pumps to mobile home villages in the eastern reaches of the county to help during the hot, and sometimes deadly, summer months. That program has provided a heat pump or portable air conditioning unit to 79 households thus far, at a cost of $511,000, Riddle said.

The programs have relied on expiring COVID-19 era federal dollars and funding from the state and the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality. The rest of their costs are covered through the county’s general fund, which officials say is likely to see at least a $21 million shortfall in the next fiscal year.

As the county works to close that budget gap while continuing to fund crucial services like health clinics and the county jail, programs like the wood stove exchange and mobile home heating pilot could be at risk of losing funding.

The Board of Commissioners has approved funding for the stove exchange program through June 30. A state heat pump program that provided funding to the county’s mobile home heat pump pilot will also sunset that month unless lawmakers extend it.

“With the cuts expected this year, I just don’t see this as something they’re going to be able to do,” Riddle said.

So far, Riddle said the county has spent over $1.3 million to replace heating systems through the wood stove exchange program. The program uses a sliding scale for those eligible for a stove replacement. People can qualify for a full installation, a $7,000 grant or a $5,000 grant, depending on location and income level, Riddle said.

For Kettelson and Thorne, the full $22,150 price tag was covered by the county, Riddle said. They said they’re both on fixed incomes and wouldn’t have been able to afford the upgrade otherwise.

Not only will the heat pump make it easier for Kettelson and Thorne to control the heating in their home and stay warm, it will also eliminate potential smoke pollution that had been flowing from their house toward nearby Kellogg Middle School, which expanded in 2021 and now shares a property line with the home. The school lodged a complaint with the city shortly after the remodel, officials said, but the city granted Kettelson and Thorne a burn exemption due to their age.

Their grandson, Casey Thorne, convinced them to contact the county for help in upgrading their heating system after spotting the flyers and pamphlets about the wood stove exchange, he said.

“I’m sure there were other people that needed it and still do,” Thorne said. “I’m glad it was us.”

The county partners with several small businesses to pick up the home installations. Evan Daigneault, owner of Advance Design Build, worked on Kettelson’s and Thorne’s home with his team.

“I’m a small business,” Daigneault said. “We try to diversify, but this is a big part of what we do. I also just don’t think these folks would be able to go out and buy these systems if this program went away.”

Thorne said she’s grateful for the county’s help, and that now she can stay warm — and cool in the summer — in the home where she raised six children and made countless memories.

“With my neuropathy, I’m cold all the time,” Thorne said. “I’m really looking forward to this. More people need it.”

Multnomah County departments will drop their proposed budgets Feb. 21. Chair Jessica Vega Pederson asked that department leaders plan out budget scenarios for 8%, 10% and 12% cuts in funding.

— Austin De Dios covers Multnomah County politics, programs and more. Reach him at 503-319-9744, adedios@oregonian.com or @AustinDeDios.

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