CSA Won't Assist On Utility Bills Until October

From Channel 3...


• Tennessee Community Services Agency changed their billing calendar year to October first through the following September 30th.

• Because of changes there is no utility assistance money available through county programs at this time.

• Shelby Co. officials urge people to still apply if they need help

At 12:05pm the bank clock thermometer read 97 degrees.

It felt every single bit of it. It has been a steamy summer in Memphis, and if it weren't for air conditioning, you'd wonder if anybody could survive all of this heat.

Kathy Barnes and her family are doing their best, but sometimes their best isn't good enough. "I applied to CSA for help to pay my utilities," Barnes said. "They told me they had no money, and wouldn't have any until October first. I don't need help October first. I need it now."

It's true, Tennessee's Community Services Agency is normally the place where all city and county groups get money to help folks pay for utilities. Now, in the hottest summer we've had in years, there's no money. "They changed their payment cycle," says Dottie Jones, head of Community Services for Shelby County. "We have had to change our cycle with them."

In previous years, Tennessee's CSA worked on a year that began on July first and ended the last day of June. This year, their official year begins on October first, and ends on the last day of September. It's creating a lot of troubles, Jones says. "People who are used to receiving utility assistance in the summer months, when their bills are so high, now have to wait until October before they're eligible."

Head into Southwest Memphis on Peebles Street, and stop off at the Trinity Coalition Outreach Ministry Center. This is where Pastor James Jones works. The offices are busy from the moment the doors open, with people needing food, or trying to find a place to live, or hoping to receive help for the payment of bills. "We have seen a huge increase," Pastor Jones says. "The economy isn't getting any better."

Jones says he's frustrated over the lack of money available for utility assistance. "We're doing the work, and trying to do the job. We don't have the money to do it. I mean, after while, you go into your own pocket. How far can that go?"

Back to Kathy Barnes, she has another MLGW bill that needs to be paid. It's going to cost her almost two hundred seventy dollars. "I can't pay it now" Barnes said. "I'm not going to be able to get any help from the state either, so they'll end up shutting the electricity off again."