“I got behind on my power bill because I owe their government some money for back taxes,” Kenneth C., of St. Joseph, Mo. shared. “And they were taking the payments so it was really hard to keep up with my bills.”
He owed about $1200 to Evergy. The big bills were just one part of Kenneth’s troubles.
Kenneth also lives with COPD and sleeps with a CPAP machine. The 73-year-old can’t stay on his feet for long because of joint pain and shortness of breath. He worried his power might get shut off at any time, which could make his breathing issues even worse.
“It was very stressful, very stressful,” Kenneth said. “I don’t have a caretaker to go out and do nothing for me, get my groceries or do things that need to be done, so I’m just trying to get by on my own.”
Kenneth reached out to the Salvation Army, looking for utility assistance. They sent him a letter, listing several resources he could reach out to, including United Way of Greater Kansas City—which turned out to be the right connection.
Kenneth was connected to a United Way social worker, who shared information about the Critical Medical Needs program, an initiative started in 2024 in partnership with utility providers Evergy and Spire. To date, the program has distributed more than $557,000 in assistance to 550 unique clients.
“I was very surprised that United Way could help me and take care of this bill,” said Kenneth. “I know because of a lot of the cuts from federal programs and some of the donations have been down, finding places to go is a lot harder. And I don’t have any family here in St. Joe that can help either.”
Kenneth relies on disability payments to get by. Every dollar has to stretch really far to cover his basic needs like rent, utilities, food and medicine. Without generous support from the community through United Way, Kenneth doesn’t know where he’d be today.
“The contributions people give to do this are very appreciated,” he said. “There should be more organizations to participate in things like this.”