people being evicted from their homes if their electricity was turned off.....

Not saying it's right. But I will share what clergy spouses learn eventually.

A practical aspect of this is the public health issue that without electricity, pipes are likely to burst and the home is, in effect, unlivable. In our area, of course, people have other means of getting through a time without utilities. But not everyone, everywhere has been raised with the skills or knowledge of how to do that; municipal ordinances and policies are usually aimed at the lowest common denominator.

So when there is that situation described, money for the utilities is often the only form of help a family will know how to use, and that can be the hardest help to get because once the bill has gone unpaid, restoring the utilities will take not only the amount due (sometimes all of it), but also a hefty deposit.

People often do not "work" the system around them, to get help, until help has become so expensive that there are not sufficient resources among the local helpers to respond adequately.


A small strategy that can have hugely powerful consequences is to ASK PEOPLE you think may be at risk of losing their utilities how they are doing before the weather becomes pipe-freezingly cold. THAT is the time to start helping, motivating the person to look into local resources, etc. So that they become another helper instead of another victim.


And doing THAT requires sensitivity. NOT asking in a smarmy, compassionate way directly!!! But sidling up to the topic. Telling stories of known but un-named neighbors who got into that fix and how they got out. hoping the person will ask some pertinent questions. Starting a conversation about winter expenses, and hoping the other person responds with THEIR story of mounting bills. INDIRECT "casework."


Finally, being sure that people know people. People will open their homes if there is relationship. Without relationship, strangers seldom know how to help other strangers, or will offer or receive help from them.


It doesn't always take a "program." Sometimes what it takes is "relationship."

~Susan