How it feels to be a poor mother living without heat in the middle of a blizzard (Washington Post)

[inanna]

January 23 at 6:54 PM

At the end of a row of abandoned homes in one of Washington’s poorest neighborhoods, it’s 7:30 a.m., and Chamika McLaughlin climbs out of bed. She dreads this time of day. It’s when she has to make a choice between two terrible options.

Does she stay cold? Or does she put her life at risk?

McLaughlin pulls on a blue hat, wraps a black sweater around her slight frame and pads into the kitchen. Hands tucked in her armpits, she shivers in the early-morning chill. School is canceled today, and her 12-year-old son, sleeping in one of the apartment’s two bedrooms, will soon awake. She has to get the house warmer. So, as she’s done countless times over two heatless winters in this apartment, she reaches for the oven dial.

McLaughlin, 30, knows heating her home this way could start a fire — oven blazes kill people every year. But she feels she didn’t have a choice. She’s marooned with defective radiators in one of the worst blizzards to hit the District in years. McLaughlin turns the oven to 400 degrees, pulls down its door and watches the coils inside glow red.

cont'd...

Link: https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/social-issues/how-a-poor-mother-lives-without-heat-in-the-middle-of-a-blizzard/2016/01/23/f81befbc-c114-11e5-bcda-62a36b394160_story.html

[Hestia]

1. This is why I give extra on our electric bill each month - I don't mind kicking in a few extra

dollars so it will help someone else. If everyone else does it (that can afford it) do it, it goes into a shared pool and is a program that helps those who really need it for energy bills.

[inanna]

2. Right now my utilities are rolled into my rent

but if I'm ever in a position to do the same as you - I'd like to.

[AwakeAtLast]

4. That's great

But the lady in the article had defective heaters. Her landlord should be prosecuted.

[yurbud]

3. notice how being the worlds only superpower helps average Americans

[JudyM]

5. Thank you for posting this important article.

I volunteer with a group in DC that refurbishes flooring, cabinets, etc for low income folks... I'm going to check to see if there's anything they can do to help with this issue. Probably not because they don't have a lot of money, but maybe they can do something....