Janie Davis read a letter from a utility company - one of many that cross her desk.
The letter was addressed to a Clover resident in her 90s whose gas bill had grown to $700 - beyond what she could pay on her limited income. Her gas was shut off, said Davis, executive director of the Clover Area Assistance Center.
The woman is getting by for now, cooking with a microwave and electric toaster oven, Davis said, but when winter comes, she won't have heat.
The woman brought the bill to the center to see if it could help.
Donor support and a federal grant have helped the center meet clients' basic needs, including paying rent and utility bills in moments of crisis.
Last year, the center received about $40,000 from the Federal Emergency Management Agency's Emergency Food and Shelter Program.
Four other agencies in York County - the Fort Mill Care Center, People Attempting To Help in York, Pilgrim's Inn in Rock Hill and The Salvation Army - received support through FEMA's program last year.
The center also operates a food pantry, health and dental programs and educational programs designed to teach clients how to manage a budget and take control of their households.
Financial aid is available with restrictions, Davis said, and clients must be willing to work toward self-sufficiency.
But so far this year, federal support hasn't come through, forcing the Clover center to rely exclusively on donor support to meet demands for help with utilities and rent. Federal dollars have been in a "holding pattern," said Lora Holladay of the United Way of York County. "It's been throwing people behind."
Until recently, when Davis learned that help might finally be on the way.
According to FEMA, $200 million held up in congressional budget talks will be awarded nationwide beginning later this month.
Davis is relieved that she can apply for the support.
If awarded, she said, the money would help her agency better assist residents - especially later in the year when winter utility bills tend to rise.
The demand for help with utility bills is year-round, though, Holladay said.
In fact, it's the most common need of people calling 211, the United Way's help hotline.
In May 2011, 259 out of 664 callers - or 39 percent - sought support with utilities payments.
"It's uncanny how, every time, that's the number one identified need," she said.
Looking locally for help
Not knowing when or if the center will one day lose the federal dollars, Davis hopes to expand the center's local support.
At about 100 active volunteers, they're not doing too badly. But they'd like more public support for their Good Samaritan Fund, which also provides emergency financial assistance for life emergencies.
Rent, medications, gasoline and utility bills are some of the expenses the fund will cover for eligible clients.
The center has clients who don't know what it's like to fill up their gas tanks, said Georga Linkous-Long.
Linkous-Long - who has suffered chronic health problems since childhood - saw how her costly health care needs affected her parents, and now, she wants to help alleviate that pressure on others.
At the center, she helps clients find agencies that can help them, fill out the paperwork, make appointments and meet the criteria necessary to receive assistance.
"I've walked in these people's shoes," she said. Devastation can come "all of a sudden, in the blink of an eye."
