Turn the Lights ON

This July OCC’s sister organization, Angels for Injured Workers is on a mission to raise $10,000 to turn the lights back on for 60 injured workers and their families. Electricity and water are essential to keeping life going. Utility bills are necessary, so they should be a priority every month, but if it comes down to buying groceries for your family or paying a utility bill, it is easy to see how shut-offs can happen.

When you are struggling financially, the stress of everything gets turned way up. Having your utilities turned off makes it 10 times harder. It is so disruptive. I know firsthand how devastating this can be. In my upcoming book, The Mastery of Miracles*, I detail times when my family went without. When I was growing up we frequently had our utilities turned off due to non-payment. “There was about a month when we didn't have gas to heat our apartment. We had to go to our neighbors’ apartments to heat food or take showers. When neighbors wouldn’t let us shower there, we used buckets of cold water to bathe. Let me tell you, cold water showers are just miserable.”

One of our clients at OCC shared with me that when their lights were shut off, he and his family were not allowed to stay in their home until they could afford to pay the bill. He and his wife each took a couple of their children and went to live separately until they could have the lights turned back on. The plan was to come back together as a family, but it never happened. This kind of turmoil creates a very fragile environment while the family is struggling. It puts a huge strain on relationships. When families are forced to fracture like that, it can create damage that cannot be healed.

This June it is our mission to raise money and create hope. We are keenly aware of the challenges within the system and in the laws. We need to shake things up and get attention to the people who need it. We want to give these families a fighting chance of pulling themselves up and out of the struggle.

Many times these utility shut-offs happen while workers are waiting for their compensation benefit checks. Doctors are not submitting the Physician Return to Work Voucher Reports. Injured workers are not being made aware of the vouchers and this has created an alarming rate of them not even applying for the money that could make a huge difference in their lives.

You have heard me say all of this before. In newsletters, at events, and in conversation. But nothing will change without us turning a very bright light on the problems in the system. At OCC we intend to create change and fix the system to spur even more hope and bright futures for injured workers and their families.

Just $175 can turn utilities back on for families in need. If you know anyone who needs assistance, please send them our way so we can help. Please visit Angels for Injured Workers to donate.

*If you would like to hear more about my book, The Mastery of Miracles, you can sign up for the Mastery of Miracles VIP Club!