MaineHousing will issue heating assistance to about 3,900 homes in the next few weeks, drawing on money carried over from last year’s budget while this year’s funding remains tied up by the federal government shutdown.

The agency warned last week that while applications for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, or LIHEAP, are still being processed, payments would be delayed until the end of the shutdown, which is now the longest in the nation’s history.

But on Wednesday, officials said they will temporarily reallocate about $2.2 million to cover LIHEAP payments for some of the state’s most vulnerable households. Though the move should bring relief to some Mainers, agency Director Dan Brennan warned that this approach is unsustainable in the long term.

“Borrowing funds from one program to pay for another is certainly not ideal,” Brennan said in a written statement. “By taking this step now, as winter approaches, we hope that at least some of our most vulnerable households will be able to avoid a heating emergency.”

Households that applied in August and September will be the first to receive funding, which will be sent directly to their fuel vendors “over the next several weeks,” the agency announced. That group includes seniors, families with young children and individuals at risk of hypothermia, it said.

Brennan said there is enough money to cover all the August applicants, but “we’ll just have to see how far into September we can get.” He added that the first batch of payments could come as early as this week, though the exact timeline is unclear.

LIHEAP applications opened Aug. 1. Since then, more than 11,000 Maine households have been approved for assistance, totaling about $6 million, he said.

The reshuffled money was originally slated for programs that help low-income Mainers weatherize their homes and upgrade their heating systems, the agency said. It was part of the federal funding awarded for last winter that was unspent and carried over.

Brennan said those programs will be repaid once the federal government releases Maine’s heating assistance money. Typically, it takes four to six weeks for LIHEAP money to reach states, meaning that if the government reopened today, Maine’s funding would likely arrive in December, he said.

“We’re making a choice here,” Brennan said on a phone call Wednesday. “It’s getting cold. People are nervous, anxious and we’re making a prioritization of programs.”

In a written statement following the announcement, Gov. Janet Mills thanked the agency and called the move “a necessary one given the dysfunction in Washington.”

“I continue to urge Republicans, who control the White House, the Senate and the House — to end the shutdown today by extending tax credits for health care and reopening the government to fund critical safety net programs like SNAP and LIHEAP,” said Mills, a Democrat who is campaigning for U.S. Senate.

Maine gets about $40 million in federal LIHEAP funding each year, according to MaineHousing. Of that, $26 million covers heating assistance for residents, while the rest goes to other programs and administrative costs.

Heating assistance amounts range based on factors like household income and demographics. Benefits are delivered in the form of a one-time payment that is generally sent directly to fuel vendors and appears as a credit on participants’ bills.

Last week, the agency announced that its Emergency Crisis Intervention Program, which was supposed to begin Nov. 1, would be delayed by the shutdown. That program provides one-time fuel deliveries, worth up to $500, to LIHEAP-eligible households that have fully or nearly run out.

Wednesday’s announcement does not impact the crisis program, Brennan said. It remains on hold until the federal funding arrives.