Local Charities

The Oregon Energy Fund Keeps the Lights On

Most of us take running utilities for granted—we flip on a light to read, turn up the thermostat when it’s cold, and put our food in the fridge to keep it from spoiling. But imagine this for a minute—what if you couldn’t afford to pay your utility bills and your utilities were shut off?

Financial crises wreak havoc on a family’s stability, and that’s especially heartbreaking when there are children involved. Basic needs like utilities are often affected. In fact, not being able to pay a utility bill is more common than you might think. To give you an idea of the widespread nature of this problem, 1 in 3 Americans struggles to pay energy bills each year, and 1 in 5 has to cut back on other necessities to keep the lights on.

The Need in Oregon

The Oregon Energy Fund was set up in 1989 to help Oregonians who find themselves unable to pay their bills during financial instability. This reprieve gives them a little time to get back on their feet and find a more stable financial position without having to worry about how they’re going to meet their most basic needs.

In Oregon, the need for utility bill assistance has only risen as our cost of living has increased dramatically over the past decade. In addition, our weather has become less temperate, meaning that bills are higher than they used to be.

Why Utility Bills

When people have an unexpected bill come up, they are often forced to take money from monthly necessities like food and utilities in order to pay it. This can cause a snowball effect of late fees, missed bills, and further debt. This stress can lead to other problems like job loss, health problems, and even eviction or foreclosure. In fact, this study found that the inability to pay utility bills is the second leading cause of homelessness!

But if someone steps in and pays those bills, the cycle can be stopped, allowing people the breathing room to get their finances in order. It’s a relatively simple and inexpensive way to make a big difference for people facing financial hardship.

How the Oregon Energy Fund Works

The Oregon Energy Fund is the only statewide nonprofit that exists specifically to help people with utility needs. The Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program and the Oregon Energy Assistance Program are federal and state programs that provide long-term assistance with utilities, but they don’t have nearly enough resources to help all of the people in need.

These other programs are also limited to low-income households, but higher income households can also find themselves in need of help with their utility bills. The Oregon Energy Fund fills that gap by helping people with higher incomes, too.

The Oregon Energy Fund distributes funds through over 30 partner agencies throughout the state, allowing them to reach as many people as efficiently as possible. In fact, they’ve recently partnered with three new agencies to allow them to reach even more communities that typically don’t get utility assistance.

Once approved, payments are made directly to the utility company (it takes about three to six weeks for this to happen, in most cases).

Want to Help?

If you’re the kind of person who wants to make sure your money is actually making a difference, the Oregon Energy Fund does a great job of making sure you know exactly how you’re helping. (Scroll down to see fiscal reports.)

I love this section filled with stories and pictures of people who have directly benefited from the Oregon Energy Fund.

If you’d like to donate, just go here. Occasionally, utility companies will offer to match your donation, increasing your impact. I applaud the Oregon Energy Fund and the work they’re doing to help people stay financially stable. Let’s do what we can to help!

Comments are closed.

Words of Praise

I highly recommend Marika and her team. We had an aggressive time frame in which to sell our home and Marika and her team absolutely crushed it! From market analysis to open houses and everything in between, Marika was a true professional and always available to communicate via our preferred medium. We will look to her for our future real estate needs.

Desiree Inaudi

Marika has worked with our family on several projects. In each instance, she has demonstrated that she is Professional, Knowledgeable, and Competent. She has the ability to communicate in a clear and concise manner addressing all of our concerns. The very first time that I was able to work with Marika she was assisting our family with a difficult situation. Her guidance and direction were key to bringing about a quick and positive resolution for our family. The most recent instance involved providing research and guidance concerning the selling of our family home, her input allowed us to understand what we should expect for our property and what to expect from the process ahead of the family. I do not and would not hesitate to use Marika Feibel as my Principal Broker.

John Mikkelson

Marika came to us as a reference from a close friend who moved to Portland from the LA area late last year. Being in a similar circumstance to him (eg. No strong connections to the area, no idea as to reputability, first-time home buyers), we were grateful for the reference for someone he obviously trusted impeccably. Any and all expectations/preconceptions we had were entirely blown away. Marika was a paragon of professionality. She remained patient, amiable, flexible and always smiling despite the grueling amount of properties and questions we threw at her. She even took the time to scout out potential listings up to 3 months before our big listing visit days to better direct our focus and optimize yield for a limited time frame. When we finally found a property, Marika held our hand each step of the way: from offering to escrow. She was there during the inspection, and there for the assessment. She was always there for us and our future home.

Finding a home can feel like a pitched battle. Everything has weight. Everything is time sensitive, urgent, and profound. It’s easy to stress out to the point of shutting down. Had it not been for Marika’s organizational skills, advice, and guidance, my wife and I honestly don’t know how we would have found our way through this process.

So, with all of that being said, I would recommend Marika without hesitation to any and all potential clients. She really made it a good experience.

Eric Schub

During the summer and early fall of 2017, Marika was my real estate agent for the sale and also purchase of a house in Portland. What impressed me the most about Marika is that she was very responsive and available when needed or a question came up. Marika’s list pricing strategy was wise and resulted in many over asking offers. Marika was on site and arranged many of the details needed to get our house sold. She is efficient and keeps the ball moving forward and remains calm and professional throughout the entire process. Marika did a great job keeping me informed about the details and what to expect next. I would not hesitate to use Marika’s services again.

Sylvia Baltzer

I highly recommend Marika and her team. We had an aggressive time frame in which to sell our home and Marika Feibel absolutely crushed it! From market analysis to open houses and everything in between, Marika was a true professional and always available to communicate via our preferred medium. We will definitely look to her for our future real estate needs.

Steve Inaudi

My wife and I recently had Marika Feibel do a comp check for our house in SE Ladd’s Addition and were very satisfied with her help and assistance during the process. Marika is a great communicator and helped walk us through the process in a way that was very easy to follow and understand. The comp check that she ran came in very close to the appraiser’s value and we left feeling good about the agreed-upon sale price. Marika was also the real estate agent that helped us find the house back in 2010 and we’ve also selected her to help us with the sale of our condominium on SW Jefferson St. We would highly recommend her to anyone.