When an estimated 34,000 families have their utilities cut off April 1, it won’t be an April Fools Day joke.
For
customers who are behind in their natural gas and electricity bills and haven't made sufficient payments during the winter months or established payment arrangements, services will be void, angering many who attended a recent news
conference about the reckoning day.
“I am
unemployed at this moment and it is difficult for me to pay my utility bill with
the income that I am receiving,” Shanita Henderson said during the news
conference held by the South Austin Coalition.
The
coalition, along with Community and Economic Development Association (CEDA) and
Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), requested a four-month hold
before utility companies discontinue service to low-income customers.
“We
called this meeting today because we’re facing a social catastrophe,” said Elce
Redmond, one of the coalition’s activists.
The
coalition hopes that the utility companies create a more affordable payment
plan that will help those low-income customers.
Henderson
said she wore out all her options and each time she meets with organizations
that provide families with assistance, she’s told the funds have been
exhausted, and Commonwealth Edison and People’s Gas weren’t willing to make
payment arrangements.
“They ask
me for a certain amount of money and I don’t have it because of the situation
I’m in,” she said.
According to NBCChicago.com, “People’s Gas and ComEd say they are working on programs to
relieve the stress on their low-income customers.”
In the
meantime, 13-year-old volunteer, Devonya Reese, will be among many to pass out
flyers to inform residents of the West Side community what’s happening.
“I feel
like [volunteering] is a big help because you know, we’re here supporting
people and making sure their light and gas bill doesn’t go off so we’re just
here kind of helping them,” said Reese.
Copyright
2011 Chicago Defender
