Julie’s* Story

When Julie* came to Connections in late April 2021, she was doing everything she could to keep her family afloat.

A local Fayetteville service provider had recommended that she reach out to Connections for help. Julie had been working hard to make ends meet, but despite her best efforts, the bills had continued to pile up. She used her stimulus check to pay the back rent she owed and bring her water bill current, but there simply wasn’t enough left to catch up on everything.

Then one morning, Julie and her two daughters woke up to a dark home.

Their electricity had been disconnected.

Suddenly, the financial hardship Julie had been trying so hard to manage became something her children could feel, too. She couldn’t heat water for her youngest daughter’s morning bottle. She couldn’t get her daughters ready for school the way she normally would. In that moment, Julie knew she needed help.

She came to Connections seeking emergency assistance, and there was no time to waste. Over the next three hours, Julie and her case manager worked side by side to gather the documentation needed to apply for financial assistance through Connections.

As they worked through the process, Julie asked if she could call her mother.

When her mother answered, Julie began to cry. But this time, the tears came with relief. She told her mother that she and her daughters were going to be okay.

Before the day was over, Julie had returned to work. During her break, she called Connections one more time, simply to say thank you for “being there when [she] needed [us].”

For Julie, emergency assistance meant more than getting the electricity turned back on. It meant being able to warm her baby’s bottle, get her daughters ready for school and return a sense of normalcy to their home.

Most importantly, it meant that in a moment when Julie felt like she had run out of options, she didn’t have to face it alone.

*Name changed to ensure client privacy.