Our little band of hobbits has a friend who works for the town. He's been aware of us for a while and cares about the folks at the Motel.
On Thursday afternoon this week, he sent a note to BL saying he'd heard about the power cut at the Motel. Wanted to know what he could do to help.
That was at 2:30. BL expressed her hope that he was referring to the one the other day, not one pending. The expected low that night was -14.
At around 5:30, BL got another note saying that the power was going to be cut because the bill was way overdue and huge. He offered to contact the local agency that could provide emergency relief, if it was wanted, to those who couldn't stay in their rooms in the cold.
BL called a friend at the Motel and got a yes to emergency shelter and passed that on to our friend who started trying to get in touch with the agency in question.
Team members made calls to anyone they could think might help, either to prevent the cut or to find homes for up to 100 people on short notice.
BL looked into whether there was any legal way of stopping the cut (re time of year/weather restrictions) but because our friends are not under the Landlord/Tenant act, even if such a law existed, it probably wouldn't apply to them.
Several team members said that they'd be available to help move people if it was needed, just let them know.
At about 6:00 K, the pastor of the church that is our financial umbrella, and S drove over and started knocking on doors. The manager didn't respond. They were told he wasn't feeling well and was lying down.
None of the residents had heard about the impending power cut, but CL told them that the manager had told her that the bill had been paid that day and the power would stay on.
The messages left at several social agencies hadn't been returned, probably because it was now after business hours. K said that if push came to shove, we could use the church basement. We'd have to find cots or something, but at least it was a warm space.
But we figured that, for tonight at least, everything would stay as it was because the power company wouldn't send out a crew this late in the day.
At 9:30, BL got word from our town friend that he'd not heard back from social services, and that even if the bill was partly paid, it would still be cut. Apparently, enough is enough. He also gave us a number to call if things went pear shaped, that would give us the ability to call out town resources, including the fire department, to help move people. He'd spoken to them about this and the fire department was concerned about what might happen if people were trying to keep warm.
With that to dream about, the day ended.
Friday came and went with no more developments, thank God, and now it's the weekend. We don't know what might happen on Monday. Or Tuesday. Or Wednesday. And on it goes.
We all spent Thursday afternoon and evening waiting for the bat signal, twitchy and angry and helpless, praying and worrying, making calls and sending e-mails, wondering what would happen if all the pipes froze, what about the pets, what about the food in the fridges, would they be able to call for help if the power was out... but grateful for our friend's support.
And even more grateful for the anti-climax.
Further bulletins as events warrant.
r
On Thursday afternoon this week, he sent a note to BL saying he'd heard about the power cut at the Motel. Wanted to know what he could do to help.
That was at 2:30. BL expressed her hope that he was referring to the one the other day, not one pending. The expected low that night was -14.
At around 5:30, BL got another note saying that the power was going to be cut because the bill was way overdue and huge. He offered to contact the local agency that could provide emergency relief, if it was wanted, to those who couldn't stay in their rooms in the cold.
BL called a friend at the Motel and got a yes to emergency shelter and passed that on to our friend who started trying to get in touch with the agency in question.
Team members made calls to anyone they could think might help, either to prevent the cut or to find homes for up to 100 people on short notice.
BL looked into whether there was any legal way of stopping the cut (re time of year/weather restrictions) but because our friends are not under the Landlord/Tenant act, even if such a law existed, it probably wouldn't apply to them.
Several team members said that they'd be available to help move people if it was needed, just let them know.
At about 6:00 K, the pastor of the church that is our financial umbrella, and S drove over and started knocking on doors. The manager didn't respond. They were told he wasn't feeling well and was lying down.
None of the residents had heard about the impending power cut, but CL told them that the manager had told her that the bill had been paid that day and the power would stay on.
The messages left at several social agencies hadn't been returned, probably because it was now after business hours. K said that if push came to shove, we could use the church basement. We'd have to find cots or something, but at least it was a warm space.
But we figured that, for tonight at least, everything would stay as it was because the power company wouldn't send out a crew this late in the day.
At 9:30, BL got word from our town friend that he'd not heard back from social services, and that even if the bill was partly paid, it would still be cut. Apparently, enough is enough. He also gave us a number to call if things went pear shaped, that would give us the ability to call out town resources, including the fire department, to help move people. He'd spoken to them about this and the fire department was concerned about what might happen if people were trying to keep warm.
With that to dream about, the day ended.
Friday came and went with no more developments, thank God, and now it's the weekend. We don't know what might happen on Monday. Or Tuesday. Or Wednesday. And on it goes.
We all spent Thursday afternoon and evening waiting for the bat signal, twitchy and angry and helpless, praying and worrying, making calls and sending e-mails, wondering what would happen if all the pipes froze, what about the pets, what about the food in the fridges, would they be able to call for help if the power was out... but grateful for our friend's support.
And even more grateful for the anti-climax.
Further bulletins as events warrant.
r
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