Amber lives with her fiancé in an older rented home that is poorly insulated, so when the weather is cold or, like lately getting warmer, her utility bills go up. Her A/C unit is unreliable and even though the landlord has fixed it she has not made him aware of the problem as much as she should. When a particularly high bill came in this month along with a car repair, Amber didn’t have the money to pay both bills. She called Good Neighbors for help. We were able to assist Amber with her utility bill and during her interview with a coach she was provided with other community resources to help her along the way such as community food resources. Part of the coaching she received was to offer her a free budget coaching. Amber was very happy to hear about this as her household income is limited and the unexpected car repair had worried her. Now she is optimistic that she will be able to find solutions to better understand her finances and save for the future!

Robert and Gina are seniors living in our community on a fixed income. They normally have enough to pay all the bills including rent. However, they received notice from the property management that rent would be going up $300. After paying utilities and rent they would only have $81 for food and anything else that came up. Upon hearing this news, Robert and Gina were devastated! They had been homeless for three years before and were really worried that they would again find themselves in the same situation.  Following the recommendation of a friend, Robert called Good Neighbors to ask for help. During Robert’s interview with our coach he was given assistance through our GRACE fund. This was the help he needed to get a handle on their new rent bill. They were also provided food resource information in the community and a calendar of local dates and times to go and receive a hot meal at no cost. Both Robert and Gina were very happy to hear that they had a solution and were not going to lose their stable home.

Brenda is a single mother of a teenage daughter and has recently brought her own mother to live with them after a bad fall. She was making it work and just barely paying the bills when she lost her job. Though she was able to find other employment quickly, her paycheck is held the first couple of weeks. In the meantime, the utility bill came due and she didn’t have any way to pay it in time before the cut off date. Knowing it would be upsetting for her family and cause delays in her mother’s recovery if they lost power, Brenda called Good Neighbors. We had assisted her a couple of years before with a rent deposit through our SURE program when she moved into a nicer apartment with her daughter. Good Neighbors was able to help Brenda to pay the utility bill, keep the power on, and provided her with other community resources that would help her provide a stable home for her family.