I have had to use utility money to buy food for my family. My electric service will be shut off by Friday, May 13th if I don't pay it. I need emergency help.
Thanks.
By Tiffany
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Talk to your county. Most counties have a welfare department that will provide one time help for things like that. However, you will be expected to pay it back. You probably would have been better off asking different churches, the Salvation Army, etc. for help with food. If you are that hard up, see about getting on food stamps.
Talk to the electric company, they have plans for low-income and might have an emergency (one-time) arrangement they will set you up with. I don't know if you have already talked to them (and they are still turning you off), but sometimes the bill can be stalled a while longer if you just call and tell them the situation. In Texas, if you have small children they used to not be able to turn off the electricity (if they know you have small children), I don't know if that has changed or might apply to your state.
In Illinois we have an energy assistance program. I would do a search on your state energy assistance programs (Illinois Energy Assistance program etc).or call your energy company directly. Sometimes they will work with you.
Most area's have an emergency phone no. now, try 211, they will give a list of number's in your area to call, Good Luck!
Not trying to be harsh with you but you truly shouldn't have waited until last ditch minute to look for help especially when it takes more than one late bill for the utilities to be cut off. Unless laws have changed drastically in the past couple of years it usually takes two or more months of not even making a partial payment effort for a utility company cutoff to occur because of protection laws.
You can still try calling your local utility company and ask for a few more days delay and call the other places already mentioned here for possible help so you might be able to avoid the shutoff. If not, at least it's springtime now with more mild temperatures and not the dead of winter so having no utilities will simply be an annoying inconvenience.
In the future, please apply for food coupons through your local Department of Social Services and also visit your local food banks on a regular basis for food assistance. Please don't put off taking care of stuff without reaching out for help before the need is dire and especially since you mention you have a family to care for.
If any in your household are under a doctor's care, you may be able to get a 30 day medical extension if the doctor writes a letter to the electric company.
Catholic Charities and the Salvation Army are just two of the places that help with this.
The Red Cross help my family when that happen to me.
msweed
Contact the department of Social Service. You may qualify for a grant or loan through the government. If you get help from an organization, some organizations like to split the cost with two other organizations. Or call the electric company and ask to be put on a budget. Then they may divide what you owe over the year with your regular bill.
Consider using some solar lighting. Out side you can use recycle such as pop bottles or other recycled items for solar lighting. Fill clear pop bottles at least three fourths full with water. Add a couple tea spoons of bleach. Cover with the tops. Leave out in the sun. They absorb light and act as solar lighting.
Good luck with your situation!
I wonder how long the bottles with the liquid bleach sitting in the sun for Solar lighting will last once you bring them in the house. Cool idea if it works.
First I understand your predicament and empathize with you. My husband of thirty five years had just passed away and I found myself penniless, and disabled. He had taken care of every and all finances imaginable throughout those years but come to find out after his death, he was flat broke , and did not have a penny to his name.
I found myself eating 1 potato a day with water, or 1 package of Ramen Noodle soup a day with water (I refuse to eat those things anymore). I have had my water turned off the day before Christmas, and it stayed off for 1 week. My electric has been shut off, I have been threatened with disconnection of my gas, and the city was in the process of attaching a lien against my house for non payment of trash pick up. Those all are only the simple things that have happened to me and the house I have lived in for forty years. They get worse, much worse.
First, you can call The Utility Commissioner's Office and they can help you come to a solution with your power company about your electric bill. They usually can on the first phone call. You can also call any Social Security Office or Government Office and get a phone number to an organization who can help. Another place to call is your local Community Action Partnership Office and they can help. The Community Action Partnership Office is the place most recommended to call for help.
Isn't it funny how many recommendations you get to go and apply for the food stamp program? People seem to think that will magically take care of the problems. Yeah, it really helped me alot. I receive $10 a month. That is it! No other help or income but I do receive Widows Benefits. Those barely pay the mortgage and I guess it's back to (gag) 1 potato a day for me.
I sure hope your situation improves for you, mine seems to worsen as the months go by and just in case you wonder if I got help with any of those places I recommended....the answer is no, they wouldn't help me at all.
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