‘Another winter, no fuel in the tank’
By Dawn De Busk
Staff Writer
NAPLES — Mary Phillips said she is facing the cold-hard reality of not having home heating fuel this winter.
Recently, Phillips and her husband Tom, both of whom are legally disabled, were denied heating assistance from LIHEAP program.
“I have no way to heat my home,†she said, after hearing the discouraging news.
The home they rent in Lovell is set up to use propane for heat.
The seemingly implausible options before her are: to move out or to freeze.
“I’ve dealt with being cold before,†she said.
Her husband has suggested that he return to the workforce despite the fact he suffered a work-related injury.
Her thought process came across an equally illogical solution: if they were single, their income would be lower. Individually, they would qualify for social services benefits that they are currently denied because of their joint income.
“We will have to separate and live out our old age alone,†she said.
The idea almost brought Phillips to tears. Her emotions were so close to the surface that she had to stop speaking before the audience at the recent Empty Bowl Pantry Fundraiser. But, she had already made her point.
Not one to take without giving back, when Phillips arrived at the fundraiser on Thursday evening, she donated a lichen-rimmed pottery bowl to be auctioned off.
Standing on her own two feet is something Phillips learned at a young age from the grandmother who raised her. Phillips was still a toddler when her mother died from cancer.
“You were a baby until you were five (years old). Then you got on your feet,†she told the audience at the Empty Bowl Fundraiser, which took place in the Great Room of the Lake Regional Vocational Center on Thursday.
She described what many households face: Trying to pay bills at the first of the month; paying an overdraft charge because the utility company or the phone company took the money out a week early; standing in line at the food banks; and investing time into preserving the food that is brought home.
“The car repairs are huge. The rent is high. Then, there is renters’ insurance,†she said.
“I don’t go to a doctor unless I absolutely have to because a doctor cannot tell me how much it will cost,†she said.
“What happens is I am reduced to not making responsible decisions,†she said.
“I would like to give up, but I cannot,†she said.
Earlier in the evening, she had said she was going to shoot from the hip and tell it like it is.
“One of the permissions of getting old is there is no need to impress. I can just be genuine,†she said.
Phillips said she knows from talking to others in the rural communities of Lovell and Sweden, her experiences are not unique.
“I don’t stand alone. I am just a symbol. I am an icon of so many people,†Phillips said.
Phillips was introduced as the guest speaker by Virginia “Tilla†Durr.
“I thought it was essential that we who are declared poor stand up and speak,†said Durr, who met Phillips at the Sweden Food Pantry.
“The emotional stress is incredible,†she said.
“Rich or poor — we are all going through this economic crisis together,†Durr said.