We squeeze through a hole cut in the chain-link fence and crunch across a gravel yard, using the moonlight to avoid the crates and pipes scattered among the weeds. The factory complex is enormous, with cavernous white metal buildings two or three stories high in some places. On one roof three rusting silos tower another 40 feet into the midnight sky.
My guides are Noah Vale and Dirtbag, two veteran urban explorers. They ve brought me to this abandoned bathroom fixture plant two hours east of Dallas to introduce me to their secretive pastime: prowling around forgotten, half-ruined buildings, construction sites, even storm sewers.
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.