Hey there,

Has anyone gone through the process of getting utility assistance through them? I know we get paid tomorrow but after doing our hudget we either put gas in the truck to get to work or have power. I was working fulltime but they cut my hours to 15 for the next two weeks while I'm being trained. Anyways any helpful advice for working with them or any other organization that will helpis much appreciated.

Thanks 

ive gone through a really really rough patch when i thought my husband was going to get deployed and we had no internet/computers or ways of staying in touch- i talked to some people from there about getting even a little bit of assistance.

they never got back to me. he didn't deploy because of some medical stuff, but they never knew that. they just never called back or initiated contact. 

you can apply for the telephone assistance program and get internet through centurylink... i dont do this, but we might end up doing it. 

AER, girlfriend. Use them for things like this. It is evident that you and your family are TRYING to fix your situation. Show them that. Get an emergency loan. 

agree 

I've done operation home front assistance. The lady was very judgie but we got $200 in commissary gift cards for help. You have to do a financial course afterwards if you ever want help again. We called many times to set up the class but never heard back. So I hope we don't need assistance anytime soon. Good luck with everything. 

The lady was very judgie

hmm i wonder if there are any people willing to do a news article about this..... 

AER was pretty judgy for us as well. My father was ready to pass on from cancer, and I had no money to be there to say goodbye. The woman "helping" us asked me if I knew he was going to die, then why didn't I plan for it. I told her he lived 12 months longer than anyone anticipated, and that I used every extra red cent to go see him with my kids to get memories in. The doctors thought he was going to die between 6-12 months after diagnosis. He lived for 18. I was about ready to tell her....well, you all know what I wanted to tell her. ;-) We got the loan, regardless. But I'm still holding a grudge. Lol. 

We tried to get an AER loan for our van to get fixed they were very judgement all. We did not get approved luckily we received our taxes that next week. They were very rude to us and nosy. We were going to pay it back its not like it's coming out of your pocket. 

someone needs to write about this for real 

Been two days and nothing back yet from them so I am going to call tomorrow. Aer said they won't do a loan because we don't have a shut offnotice yet and they say my husband has enough without helping me pay my credit cards but we are married so they make no sense so instead of calling her a you know and telling her how I felt I just walked away. 

hmm 

I've gotten an aer loan before to go home for my grandmother's funeral. They must have new people bc the lady was extremely nice. We tried getting one a year or so later bc my car engine needed replaced but they said to get a loan for a car it has to be your only means of transportation and we had 2 vehicles. I know for bills they're very hard to get.

Have you tried pioneer loan? 

What is a pioneer loan? 

I got an AER loan once when the water pump went out on our only vehicle a week before Christmas. No hassles or judgement at all. In my experience any time you're receiving financial assistance they are going to be nosey. If they handed it out willy nilly the money wouldn't be there for those who really need it, no?

Have you tried calling your credit card people? If its just a temporary situation maybe your credit cards or one of your other bills can wait a few weeks. A Pioneer Loan is from Pioneer Lending. My ex got one when we were married and the interest was ridiculous. 

Yep, i called our credit card companies but because my husband is in the medboard and we had to extend our contract in august without pay for a month we used that favor then and can't again until this august. So today I'm going to call operation homefront and if nothing from them then when we get the notice we will go back to aer. I understand that they are going to be nosey, but since I wasn't expecting to have my hours cut I wasn't prepared. However, when questioned why I bought flea medication for my dog and took him to the doctor for an eye infection, which we didn't put on a credit card was an unnecessary purchase was where that isto nosey for me, and the aer lady told me he could have waited. 

USAA offers refinancing on auto loans with cash available for emergency assistance. I almost did that once.

They also offer other cash loans, but that is probably the lowest interest, unless you qualify for a zero percent card. 

My husband had a pioneer loan out. Interest was actually pretty reasonable, but this is how they determine it.

Interest rates vary by customer and consider several factors, including credit history (based on a consumer credit report), military rank, years of service (employment history), and debt-to-income ratio. As we look at the entire credit profile, we are unable to determine a specific interest rate until completion of application and underwriting review. 

Go to benefits.gov and search Washington state. There is a program for utility assistance. Or call your electric company and see if you can set up some sort if arrangement. 

for op homefront your husband has to be deployed.. last I knew back in Nov we needed help and they said even with his deployment orders they could not help us till he was deployed 

they LIE!!!!!!

they told us it was only if you had a special needs child. which we do. but they still ^as said above never got back to us anyway.

what is up with all their bs? 

My husband wasn't deploye when we got help from them. 

*deployed 

http://portal.hud.gov/hudportal/HUD?src=/states/washington/renting/energyprgms

http://www.dshs.wa.gov/onlinecso/emergency_situations.shtml 

We did get assistance thru them when we just got to Lewis and our pay got majorly screw up. They gave us gift cards for groceries and gas gift cards for the cars. It did took a couple days to get to us on the mail but not too many questions just genuine help.