Posted on 07/21/2014 2:29:53 PM PDT by PoloSec
Last week, a bankruptcy judge ordered the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department to come up with answers for helping residents pay their overdue water bills, in light of the thousands of shut-off notices the agency has issued across the city. While the water authority must present its alternatives in court today, two resourceful women have already come up with one solution.
Turn on Detroit's Water is a website that matches donors with Detroiters who are struggling to pay their water bills. The site invites residents with overdue bills to submit their information. From there, the site—which is the work of Tiffani Ashley Bell and Kristy Tillman—matches them with donors willing to assume their obligation.
Here's how it works: Detroit account holders who owe $250 or less to DWSD can enter their information through a simple form-based site. Required info includes address, account number, past due and current charges, and account balance. The information is then verified through the Detroit Water and Sewage Department website.
Would-be donors simply submit an email address. Once a donor is matched with an account holder, the donor then receives all the account information required to pay the overdue bill. The donor can't see the Detroit account holder's name, though, unless the account holder asks to reveal it.
As Bell recounts, the project was sparked in a discussion over Twitter.
Bell and Tillman's site indicates that only individual residents are eligible to participate—so a donor won't be asked to pay on one of the city's many delinquent corporate accounts. Some 4,400 homes remained without water in late June, according to reports. The department announced today that it was suspending shut-offs for the next 15 days to give delinquent account holders time to seek help.
Tillman says by email that they began looking for residents in need on Friday and that they had identified several by this morning. Word of mouth has spread faster among donors. "We've got over 100 donors from allover the place who are getting matched up with people in Detroit right now thanks to sharing their email addresses with us," she says.
Representatives at DWSD didn't respond right away about whether they will direct delinquent customers to seek help on Tillman and Bell's website.
Maybe Detroit residents can help all of us pay our water bills too?
I already do: 55% in taxes!
How about the mooch pay their own damned water bill??!!
“Oh HELL No!”
Ditto!
Tiffani Ashley Bell
@tiffani
CEO @pencilyouin. Rails + iOS dev. Steak connoisseur. @HowardU alumna. Been on CNN, but onward, ho! 2014 @CodeForAmerica Fellow. Meus opus magnus.
FAY - SF - ATL - DC
As John Wayne said, “That’ll be the day.”
Yes, but are these people like the woman who held up her electric bill with a sad look on her face because she didn’t get in line in time to get “help”, but in the background was a huge TV and an expensive game system? You can’t help people who think they shouldn’t have to be responsible for anything.
Kristy Tillman (@KristyT) tweeted at 6:25pm - 20 Jul 14:
@_ndrw Imagine being from a marginalized group that is heavily stereotyped and what that means about failing and not needing permission. (https://twitter.com/KristyT/status/491000946504122368)
Kristy Tillman (@KristyT) tweeted at 6:26pm - 20 Jul 14:
@_ndrw then often times you’re a one off in a culture with very little support and people are telling you to fail… (https://twitter.com/KristyT/status/491001344455487488)
exactly
Cable TV is a Right!
Oh, yeah, I forgot. Guess I’m just another heartless conservative who thinks people can’t be kept as if they were expensive pets.
Kristy Tillman (@KristyT) tweeted at 10:57pm - 20 Jul 14:
@April_Davis Did you prep? Cooking 3 meals + breakfast was a got damn chore whewwww (https://twitter.com/KristyT/status/491069485915185152)
Then THIS 3 months later when they began to shut the water off.
Check out THIS ...just to add to the corruption conversation.
IMHO, Detroit should allow no special privileges to the deadbeats that won't pay their water bill.
TURN 'EM OFF!
It’s what John and Yoko would do!
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