Audrey Merseal: For three decades she has stepped in when you couldn't pay your light bill

For 33 years Audrey Merseal, 71, has been the face of service and compassion in the Du Quoin office of the Western Egyptian Economic Opportunity Council energy assistance and weatherization program.

That ends Friday--her last day-- because of "staffing changes." A three-block drive from her Du Quoin home to the South Washington Street office may turn into a 38-mile round-trip hike to Murphysboro and back if she is reassigned as a "receptionist" in the Murphysboro office.

Program director Paulette Hamlin says funding is always an issue and the agency is doing the best it can to serve as many people as it can with the money it has.

Audrey began working for the agency in January 1981. She applied because of an ad in the Du Quoin Evening Call and got the job. It was an agency largely created by Dorothy Ivanuck in 1965. Audrey has worked alongside people like Rob Schroeder, Janie Willis, Donna Salger and Debbie Thies since those early days.

There were two years the agency didn't have any money, she remembers. After the layoff she was rehired in 1996 and hundreds of Du Quoin-area residents owe their warm homes to her and the agency during the winter months when the wolf was at their door. "A lot of times these people have to decide between food and medicine," she said.

Audrey manages the local ILHEAP energy assistance program that provides energy subsidies to local families in need. If the paperwork is completed ahead of time, disconnects are typically avoided. At the last minute, Audrey relies on Debbie Thies in the Sparta office to negotiate payment with Ameren or any other provider that might be involved.

"Debbie has always stood behind me," she says.

"We have had a lot of good outcomes over the years," says Audrey. "I have enjoyed working here," she says. She says the Du Quoin office, which also sponsors a food pantry and Salvation Army assistance, makes it easier for clients to get help. She remembers having to travel to set up shop in a church or travel to Pinckneyville, Cutler, Willisville and Tamaroa to work with clients.

Both the weatherization and energy assistance are income based. There is some summer cooling assistance this year. There were nearly 160 applicants for only $20,674 in total subsidy. The heating program is much larger. There are typically 1,000 or more applicants between September and May.

The subsidy gets better in an election year.

"I don't want to leave here," she said. "I have met a lot of nice people."

She says the good Lord has been there for her since the death 23 years ago of her husband, Nelson, who died too early at age 50. She takes pride in son Steve, her grandchildren and great grandchildren.