Keep the lights on: Coping with mounting utility bills amid a pandemic Keep the Lights on CLE’ is a campaign to raise money for those in our community facing utility shutoffs. To donate, visit www.KeepTheLightsOnCLE.org Author: Rachel Polansky (WKYC), Phil Trexler Published: 6:52 PM EST February 25, 2021 Updated: 7:21 PM EST February 25, 2021
LAKEWOOD, Ohio Last week, our nation saw the harsh impact when millions of Texans were cut off from the electrical grid.
Closer to home, it s a deadly threat as our most vulnerable neighbors cope with mounting utility bills.
WKYC Studios is working with Cleveland nonprofit, CHN Housing Partners, to raise money for those in our community facing utility shutoffs.
Credit: WKYC
But as with any climb out of debt, she has a long road ahead.
“I will not be in the dark again, metaphorically and literally. If any utility has to go, it ll be the gas,” said Garth.
Garth is far from alone.
“What is it like getting a shutoff notice?” Polansky asked Jennifer Toth, a Lakewood resident.
“It’s pretty much the death of your dignity
,” said Toth.
Disabled with Lupus for 16 years, Toth’s social security income is fixed. Her days of worry are not.
“I wake up every day thinking, is this the day that the worst could happen?” asked Toth.
House Television via AP
Cleveland Congresswoman Marcia Fudge has been nominated to head the Department of Housing and Urban Development in the president-elect Joe Biden s administration.
Updated 11:00 a.m., Dec. 10, 2020
Housing and neighborhood advocates in Northeast Ohio and beyond reacted with optimism Wednesday to news that Cleveland Congresswoman Marcia Fudge would be President-elect Joe Biden s pick to lead the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The Biden campaign made it official Thursday morning in a press release calling her a longtime champion of affordable housing, urban revitalization, infrastructure investment, and other reforms to enhance the safety, prosperity, and sustainability of American communities.