A young hard working single mom was told by her coworker to come see me. She heard that I might be helpful in locating some resources.
This mom has a 10 year old son and her older sister lives with her in the home and requires daily treatments for a medical condition. However, she owned $9,000 in back utility payments. There has been no heat in her home for the past three months. The electric was turned back on so that her sister could continue her medical treatments. However, her furnace and oven were not working. When she called the utility company to recommend a payment plan they told her she would have to pay the full amount before the heat could be turned back on.
$9,000 in debt, no heat in the house so does that mean we need to start a “Go Fund Me” page. Instead, I called 211, the county referral resource center and the customer service agent suggested to contact HEAP (Home Energy Assistance Program). This mom did call HEAP and because she works two jobs, they told her that she was not eligible because she makes “too much money.” Really, single mom, works two jobs for non-profit agency, caregiver to her child and sister and still doesn’t qualify.
What’s the next option? 211 agent suggests to contact NYS Temporary Assistance Program. Once again, this mom had applied and she was told that she doesn’t quality.
So I checked the RGE customer service website and found a section entitled “Payment Arrangements.” Our distressed mom discovered that her heat had never been turned off despite the fact she owed $9,000. However, if she did not pay by January 22 her utilities would be shut off. Then the kind agent (guardian angel) said wait, while she consulted with her supervisor and came back to ask some questions. I thanked the agent for her patience and understanding and when she came back on the phone she asked mom questions about mom’s income and bills. After 10 minutes of getting background information about her incomes and monthly bills, the agent returned to the phone and told mom: “YOU QUALIFY.”
What this meant was that her utility account would be zeroed out to nothing and that $10 would be added to each bill moving forward. Her monthly bill would be about $130 which mom could pay. There would be no balance on her current account. Our “guardian angel” customer service lady told mom to contact the landlord to check that her pilot lights were working and if not call the utility company to come and turn them back on. Also, the agent recommended to mom to call her sister’s doctor and request the office to fax back verification of her sister’s medical condition that required utilities be turned on for the lack of energy would agitate her medical condition.
Needless to say, I expressed our gratitude to this customer service lady who “saved the day” and hopefully the heat would be back on tonight so that her child and sister would be warm and healthy.
Lords, I pray for all my Sonshine Friends whose “guardian angels”: are looking out for us during desperate times. We are grateful for all their extra time and going beyond the call of duty. They are a sign of your love and compassion for all your children in desperate times.
