Driving to the Center for Respite Care this morning was interesting. A large thunderstorm knocked down trees and powerlines in certain parts of Cincinnati last night (including our neighborhood, Avondale) and when I finally made it through several busy intersections without traffic lights, past cones, and around Duke Energy trucks, I knew today would be no ordinary day. We truly take our electricity for granted.
Homeless people don’t take electricity for granted because, obviously, they usually have extremely limited access to it. However, energy concerns continue to effect homeless men and women long after their immediate housing concerns are resolved. Why? Because outstanding utility bills can prevent them from securing permanent housing. While there are agencies that will help with outstanding bills, they are not able to help everyone.
Depending on the depth of security checks a landlord performs, outstanding utility bills can have the same effect as a bad credit rating or eviction history. Furthermore, anyone who has such a bill cannot have a utility in their name until it is paid off. The best short-term fix is to find an apartment that has utilities included. Even this inclusion, of course, won’t prevent a landlord from turning down these applicants.
Returning to society is something of a choice at first, but it also takes hard work, determination, and time to overcome all the obstacles and consequences of a life that has lead to homelessness. Health issues can be improved and sometimes even resolved, but there are so many tiny details of living in society that can take months and even years to resolve. Can you think of others?
[...] which I receive via RSS feed is the Center for Respite Care blog. They’re post yesterday, Outstanding Utility Bills Challenge Tenant Applicants, was short, sweet and to the [...]