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Vicky Mroczek (September 1, 1951 - September 28, 2003) was a prominent advocate for low-income energy issues on both the state and national levels. She served as Chair of the National Low Income Energy Consortium from 1993 until her death, and from 1990 - 1992 she chaired the National Energy Assistance Directors Association. She administered Ohio's Home Energy Assistance Program (HEAP) since 1985. Prior to that time, she worked in several capacities for Ohio's Office of the Consumers' Counsel, representing residential utility customers. Vicky devoted her career to improving the conditions for low-income, vulnerable, and disenfranchised people in Ohio and throughout the nation. In 1993, she was promoted to Chief of the Office of Community Services, in the Ohio Department of Development, taking on additional responsibilities for low-income consumers, including the administration of the Community Services Block Grant (CSBG) for the State of Ohio. The following year she was appointed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to the National CSBG Monitoring and Assessment Task Force. She was a past Board Member of the Central Ohio Transit Authority. And prior to 1982 she worked as a legislative advocate for several nonprofit organizations. Vicky received a B.A. in International Studies from Miami University, Oxford, Ohio. As part of her studies she spent one year at the Luxembourg Center. She completed her doctorate in Political Science form Ohio State University. She was the beloved daughter of Phyllis Mroczek and late Michael Mroczek of Pompano, Florida. She also leaves behind her loving husband of 24 years, George Diehl, and her devoted sister, Michelle Mroczek, of Bradenton, Fla. Vicky is sadly missed by numerous friends and colleagues. Vicky Mroczek Memeorial Scholoarship Fund In tribute to all she did and all she stood for, NLIEC has established the Vicky Mroczek Memorial Scholarship Fund to provide access to information sessions, training, and networking opportunities for members of the low-income energy community who could not otherwise afford to attend. "Vicky was an engaging and funny public speaker; a talented program
administrator; a forceful advocate for those in need. More so, she was a good friend to
many of us who do this work, always generous with her time, advice, warmth and wisdom. We
will miss her." Jerrold Oppenheim Low-Income Energy Affordability Network "The last time I talked to Vicky Mroczek was several years ago when we met by accident in front of the Forrestal Building (US Dept. of Energy) in Washington, D.C. She was in DC advocating for low income energy assistance. I thought as we talked, Vicky is still an eloquent champion for those who often have little voice in places of power. Her work for residential utility consumers at the Ohio Consumers' Counsel during my watch will always be remembered too. Among my favorite memories of Vicky were her personable presentations for OCC. Not only a hit with urban, low-income consumers, Vicky also was a popular speaker with the Ohio farm community. The agency's fan mail zoomed up as Vicky criss-crossed the state in public meetings as a consumer advocate during a General Telephone rate case - a utility that served 80 of 88 counties. Very sadly, Vicky has left us too early. But the spirit of her good works and the lives she enriched across Ohio and the nation will not soon be forgotten. If there is a Hall of Fame for Consumer Champions in Great Beyond, Vicky just crossed the threshold." Bill Spratley Ohio Consumers Counsel "Vicky's death seems impossible to believe. She was such a special person: so dedicated, enthusiastic and successful in whatever she put her weight behind. For me she and the NLIEC were almost synonymous. She will be a huge loss to that monumental organization to which she had given so much of her life. I am one of the privileged who had been invited to several NLIEC conferences, all of which were rich and unforgettable occasions. There was rarely enough time whilst attending the conferences, to get to know Vicky personally - but she radiated her strength everywhere. She will be missed by us all. I'm sure she would want us to continue to make the NLIEC a lasting and crucial platform in the fight to make energy services accessible to low-income households and the poor- in the USA and elsewhere in the world. " Hazel Ranninger Energy and Development Research Centre University of Cape Town SA "Many people don’t accomplish in a
lifetime what she was able to…She was always on the cutting edge, always had
incredible insight into how government could go to work to help citizens of our community
that were less-privileged." "What a wonderful person with loads of energy and brilliance. I will miss
her." "Her life was rich in friendship, commitment to those
in need, and the occasional opera and musical score. Our lives are richer for having
known her. She will live on through our work." "Je suis bouleversé et très triste car j'aimais
beaucop Vicky. Je prie pour elle et ses proches. C'est une grande perte pour nous et les
plus pauvres." "Community Action lost one of its champions, innovators and freedom fighters …and I lost one of my best friends... Vicky was a quiet, and sometimes not so quiet, leader in the profession and an inspiration and example for us all. She put everything she knew and could muster into helping people, and I learned a lot from her. She will be sorely missed… Even though she was only a couple of years behind me at Miami University and the Ohio
State University, my stint with MATF was my first opportunity to meet her and learn who
she was, and I was not the only beneficiary of Vicky's natural bent toward mentoring
colleagues. She was definitely aggressive in supporting all of Ohio's CAAs in
providing technical assistance, training and education. In the Entrepreneur's Manual there
is a sentence: A people hire A people; B people hire C people. One consolation
to me at this moment is knowing that Vicky hired only A people, and that the quality of
services she expects for Ohio CAAs will continue seamlessly. Vicky would not want
anyone to drop one of the balls...The War on Poverty has been immeasurably advanced by my
Sister Vicky's involvement. It would be her expectation that we do it better
tomorrow than we did it yesterday. That's the standard she held all of us to." "She brought the CAAs to a new level of wanting to do
more with less for the poor. The ideas she shared changed a lot throughout the United
States in the "War on Poverty" What a soldier in that war. This
"General" will truly be missed but never forgotten. Her legacy to the
Community Action World and to the State CSBG Directors will be one of "we can
do it better tomorrow than we did it yesterday. For tomorrow is another opportunity for me
and all of us to win. That's the standard she held for herself and for all of us to live
by. Farewell good and faithful servant. You will always be loved." "Vicky's passing leaves such a huge hole. Her
commitment to the principles and values of community action were the highest. Her untiring
efforts to raise the bars for excellence and accountability pushed many of us to strive
harder. It never failed that when I spent time with her I came away with a couple of new
ideas. Damn, I will miss her." "She was a mentor to so many of us and a voice of
encouragement."
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National Low Income Energy Consortium - Building Bridges |
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