Natasha is a single mother of 4 children who are in middle and high school. Her oldest just starting his senior year. During the summer months her utility bill is usually higher, but this month is was just out of her reach to pay. She was waiting for the school year to start up again as she would be moving into a full-time position, but would not get her first paycheck in time to pay the bill and avoid getting turned off. She called Good Neighbors to ask if we could help her. During her coaching we shared other community resources that would help her sustain the family until she received her paycheck and we were able to pay a portion of her utility bill. Now, the kids are back in school and she is in a better financial place with the increased hours.

Christopher called Good Neighbors because he was at a loss of what to do when he found himself needing to move. He knew that he wanted to stay in the area that was close to his job, but did not count on needing to pay a deposit to turn on his electricity. Through a referral from another agency who had helped him find his new home, he called Good Neighbors. We were able to help him pay the utility deposit with our SURE program. During the coaching Christopher mentioned that he struggled to keep on top of his bill and more often than not had the extra expense of late fees. Our coach made some recommendations for him including participating in our free budget course to find a system that would help keep him organized and pay his bills on time. Christopher was very interested in the course and signed up for the next one available through the GN office.

Jerry recently found himself in a situation where he had to take time off work due to a medical issue. He has a good paying job and is usually able to take care of his family without any problems. Mary, his wife, is a homemaker who also homeschools their twin sons. After having to stay home for over 3 weeks on FMLA their savings was quickly depleting and they were going to be short for the rent this month. Jerry’s landlord referred him to Good Neighbors to see if we could help him get back on track. Jerry had never been late on their rent prior to this so the landlord was willing to work with us and GN was able to use our GRACE fund and help with a portion of his rent. He is looking forward to getting back to work and now he has a new outlook on actively saving so that he would be able to cover his expenses and have a contingency plan in place if another emergency were to happen.