THE VOICE OF THE TOWNSHIP
Waynedale Resident Inspirational in Additional Heat Aid
This past October, an 89 year-old resident of Waynedale sought assistance from the Wayne Township Trustee Office for disconnected gas service. With tears in her eyes, she asked for help because she was cold in her house. This 50-year neighbor of the community had never been disconnected and had always paid the current charges on her bill. How could this be, you might wonder. Let me explain how things actually got worse for her.
Although it was difficult for her on a fixed income after the death of her husband, she was able to manage. Like many of us, one major difficulty could be the catalyst to a life-changing catastrophe. In her case, it came in the way of a settle-up budget charge. Over the last few years, gas prices rose sharply and many budget amounts simply fell extremely short of covering the annual total. When her settle-up charge was added to her monthly bill, it increased the total almost $1,000.00. She sent every spare penny (more than half of the settle-up) that she had, but on the day that it was credited to her account, her service had been disconnected. Awful you might think, keep reading it gets worse!
After her service was disconnected, she contacted the gas company only to find out that she now owed a deposit for almost as much as her settle-up bill. You might think the escalation of her troubles had finally hit their peak, but she also didn’t qualify for Township assistance. The Wayne Township office has never been willing to accept outcomes like this. Wayne Township has always, in presentations to the public, made known our belief that just because someone doesn’t qualify for assistance doesn’t mean that they are not in need. The statutes are wisely written so that we take care of only those most in need, which is a fair balance to these citizens, the taxpaying citizens whose dollars fund our efforts.
Several things were done on this woman’s behalf to rectify the situation. At the beginning of my administration, the position of Community Liaison was established to help ensure that all community resources were used in cooperation so that the maximum leveraged value could be realized. We needed to know all we could about the agencies, as well as them knowing about us. From this knowledge, the position of Community Resource Specialist was developed to help all those who didn’t qualify, such as the group represented by our neighbor. By doing the legwork of contacting additional sources of help within the community, this individual was able to have her heat restored. This represented the ultimate benefit for a person with no other options.
I believe it is the responsibility of this office to provide assistance to all those who legally qualify. I believe it is my moral responsibility to address the needs of our neighbors who fall outside the lines of legal eligibility. There are those that may disagree, but my Christian heart tells me I’ve done the right thing.
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