The Dexter Family
Life for Melissa and her husband, Don Dexter, was full of inspiring hope and accomplishment. They had saved to buy their first house in Oregon City and Melissa was pregnant with their first child. They were very excited on many fronts as they started out together. Don and Melissa had good paying jobs providing enough income to support their new mortgage and the new baby on the way.
With the delivery of their first born, everything would change in the Dexter’s lives. Melissa and Don’s child was born with Down’s syndrome. The doctors for the Dexter’s told them they would need to have 24-hour care for their first born child. This would mean that Melissa would have to quit her great paying job and rely solely on Don’s income for their financial obligations. This news was devastating for the new parents.
As time moved on, the hardship of paying for all their monthly changes started to wear on Don. The new family, with added medical bills for their son and not having Melissa’s income coming into the household, began to slide behind in their monthly bills.
One month leads into the next and the next. As December rolled around, the Dexter’s found they had to make decisions whether to pay their electric bill or buy food and other necessities …they let their electric bill go that month. With not being able to pay for both their heating and basic need, they received a shut off notice from their electric company. Melissa read a message inside of her bill that perhaps they could get help from an organization called Oregon HEAT. After viewing Oregon HEAT’s website, they contacted Clackamas County Social Services, a partner agency of Oregon HEAT and in their area, and filled out the paperwork and found that they were eligible to receive some assistance through Oregon HEAT.
Oregon HEAT was able to pay for their electric bill directly to the utility provider and was also able to get the Dexter’s bill current. This assistance could not came at a better time as winter was in full swing and they needed to keep the home warm and the lights on for themselves and their frail son. Melissa said, “What a relief of stress to be caught up and that she and her family were truly grateful for the help”
The Dexter family is still struggling to make ends meet but they learned with the help they received from Oregon HEAT and through their utility provider the importance to trying to stay current with their electric bill.
Oregon HEAT hears from all its partner agencies similar stories like that of Don and Melissa, stories about families, who struggle to put food on the table, purchase needed medicine for household members and to pay their monthly obligations like rent, and utilities. It has been an extremely tough economy these past few years; unemployment has been as high as 10.6%, housing foreclosures have been at record levels and energy prices like gas have skyrocketed. It is through the donations given to Oregon HEAT each year that we are able to help families like the Dexter’s. In 2010, Oregon HEAT was able to help over 15,000 individuals all over Oregon with emergency energy assistance; critical help at the time when staying warm is at its hardest with winter in full force. In the same time frame over 8,900 people from every corner of Oregon gave donations to help the people who could not afford to get through the winter without some emergency energy assistance.
We hope that all of our donors and maybe a few new ones will be able to reach out this year and give so that families like the Dexter’s can keep their heat on during upcoming cold winter months.
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“ Life for Melissa and her husband, Don Dexter, was full of inspiring hope and accomplishment. They had saved to buy their first house... Read More ยป”
