u/IKaffeI

My mother was staying us as a way to help her save up and get out of hotels. She was paying the electric as her part of helping out and was consistent for the first 7 months and we started trusting her and stopped checking. Well that was clearly stupid of us because a month ago she disappears in the middle of the night whiteout telling anyone and also apparently hadn’t been paying the electric for the past 3 months. We now owe $1500 and they will not agree to a payment plan due to how long past due the account is. We’ve tried every financial assistance program we can and are still looking but so far they’re all either out of funds or can’t help us until next month and it’s due to be disconnected on the 28th of this month. I CANNOT have my electric shut off as I have 4 kids and don’t have any family to temporarily stay with while I get the money together. If you have and resources or would like to help directly we will gladly accept ANYTHING.

My mom stayed with us for awhile and was paying for the electric as her way to help contribute to the household. For the first few months we checked every month to make sure it was paid and it was always paid in full and on time so we started to trust her to pay it without us checking every month. HUGE MISTAKE. Last month she up and disappears in the middle of the night without saying anything to anyone and it turns out that she hasn’t paid the electric for the last 3 months and we now owe $1478.87 to Duke who is unwilling to do a payments plan due to the fact that it hasn’t been paid in 3 months. It’s due to be shut off by the 28th of this month and all financial aid that we’ve looked for is either not taking anyone until next month or are out of funds which is not surprising considering the current state of the economy. I am continuing to look for help for official resources but I also have 4 children and CANNOT have my electricity shut off for any reason. I do not have any other family I can ask for help or stay with temporarily. If you have any resources or advice on what to do I am more than happy to hear. Any direct financial assistance would also be deeply appreciated but is not my primary intention.