Sweating the bills

When the Clarksdale family received a $500 utility bill in June, it was simply more than the family could afford.

They’ve had their share of hardships. O’Neal Clarksdale became paraplegic at age 15, when a vertebrae in his lower back was broken in a car accident. His wife, Melissa, who has been his caregiver for two years, said the family can barely afford wheelchair parts and necessary medical supplies.

In the last year, the couple has spent more than $2,000 helping extended family who lost their homes to Hurricane Katrina, finding themselves barely able to care for their own needs.

After the Columbia/Boone County Health Department could not offer the family energy assistance because of a lack of funding, they turned to Central Missouri Community Action, a nonprofit agency that provides monetary assistance to low-income individuals and families in eight counties — Howard, Audrain, Cooper, Moniteau, Cole, Callaway, Osage and Boone. Included in its services is the low-income home energy assistance program, which helps households pay fuel and electricity bills as long as they meet income-level restrictions.

As the Clarksdales waited in front of CMCA’s Family Resource Center on Wilkes Street, they watched as five out of the six people in line were turned away. They were given the same response: No funds, we’ll put you on a waiting list.

This is not the first year CMCA has run out of funds. David Rosman, director of communication and development for CMCA, said the agency is usually underfunded for the winter season, which ends May 31. This year, funds ran out in mid-May.

In response, the state received a multi-million dollar emergency allocation from the federal government, of which $80,000 went to CMCA’s Boone County office.

While funding is at best stagnant, and at worst decreasing, the number of clients in central Missouri grows substantially. In the past five years, CMCA’s clientele has increased 166 percent, Rosman said. Since last year, CMCA’s energy assistance program has seen a 20 to 30 percent increase. Rising fuel costs, which rose 40 percent last winter, are a major factor and nearly doubled heating costs, Cole said.

Additional funds allowed caseworkers to help out “a few more people,” Rosman said. But it also created tension between caseworkers and those who had been turned away the previous week.

“The additional funds made people think we were picking and choosing,” said Adam Tipton, community services supervisor for the family resource center.

In the summer months, Missouri state law limits low-income home energy assistance to electricity only. Gas bills have to wait until next year, or clients have to go to alternate sources, Tipton said.

Columbia resident Kellie Beran considered getting help from CMCA last August, but when told how extensive the waiting list was, she decided it was unlikely she’d get assistance in time, she said.

This summer, she is going without air-conditioning. She uses fans and is constantly hydrating her 2-year-old daughter, Hannah.

While Beran has found a way to get through the summer, she is concerned about the upcoming winter, and she is still paying last winter’s bill.

“You can’t go without heat, you’ll get sick,” she said. “There’s nothing I can really do in the winter.”

It’s hard not to feel helpless at times, caseworkers said, given that so much of their ability to provide energy assistance depends on funding, state policy and the weather.

“We have been very fortunate to have had such a mild winter,” said CMCA Executive Director Darin Preis in a February press release. “I can’t imagine the drain on resources if the winter had been bad.”

On a typical day in July, an average of six or seven people wait in line at the office. They gather early, with disconnection notices in hand and hopes of obtaining assistance.

Those standing in line said they are having trouble paying their bills because of the rising cost of living and increased energy expenses. Some are unemployed; most are on a fixed income.

To make matters worse, President Bush’s proposed federal budget for 2007 would eliminate all funding for the Community Services Block Grant, which helps CMCA cover administrative costs.

Whatever the outcome nationally, CMCA will feel its effects, given that 99 percent of its funding comes from federal sources, Rosman said.

“Agencywide, we are expecting shortfalls based on inflation, flat funding and a proposed decrease of funding for the coming fiscal year,” Rosman said. “We are at the mercy of our federal legislators.”

Eventually, the Clarksdale family had their utilities turned back on with the landlord’s help. They are still waiting for calls from both CMCA and the city’s energy assistance program for help with the $500 bill, Melissa Clarksdale said.

In the end, persistence could pay off.

“We have so many people that you really get lost in a shuffle,” Tipton said of the waiting lists. “The people that really get helped are the ones that keep coming in.”