Fred got his second shutoff notice from the electric company. He tried to budget his expenses, but things got out of hand. His heat is provided by electricity to baseboards. He lives in a small one-bedroom apartment and spends most of the winter in the kitchen. The kitchen stove runs on gas and he uses that as a primary heat source, trying to save money on electric heat.
Fred worked hard all of his life driving a delivery truck for a local company. He never married and he took pride in being as self-sufficient as possible. It was a rare day when he asked for help from anyone.
This past winter Fred’s neighbor heard him coughing a lot and she checked on him and quickly realized he needed to go to the hospital. He spend a week in the hospital recovering from COVID and pneumonia.
A hospital social worker helped Fred fill out the forms necessary for state assistance for a variety of programs. It took a lot of persistent coaxing to get Fred to be willing to submit the forms. He still had to deal with his electric bill.
The social worker called the Windham County Heat Fund and we were able to pay his bill and avoid a shutoff. He also owed the electric company $500 and the heat fund also paid that so that Fred could have a clean slate after he returned home from the hospital.