A nine-month old baby was found freezing, wrapped in a coat and hat, a week after the house's heating went off.
Councillor Gerard Woodhouse's heart shattered when he heard the 27-year-old mum of three's cry for help after she texted him late one night.
The chief executive of the L6 Community Centre told the ECHO: "I felt terrible. I mean, I've got mental health problems myself. I do suffer with depression, but I could see it was more than depression. It was as if she was at the end of her tether.
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"She was freezing with a big coat on in the house. It was horrible."
When Gerard arrived in the house he said it was colder than a meat freezer.
The heating had cut out a week prior as the mum struggled to keep up with rising bills.
Energy bills in Merseyside rose by 7.5% last year alone, and average energy bills in the UK are set to rise by a further £693 a year when a new price cap takes effect on April 1.
These rising costs could hit people on lower incomes the hardest as they are more likely to use more expensive forms of payment, such as prepayment meters, cash, cheque, or quarterly direct debit, rather than monthly direct debits
Roughly 95% of the people the L6 Centre supports in some of the poorest parts of Liverpool are on payment meters, meaning they have to pay before they get fuel.
Gerard said these meters are "ripping off" vulnerable people like the 27-year-old mum of three who was left without heating when she couldn't afford to top it up.
He said: "It was just heartbreaking, but this is right across the board - people who are not well off but were looking well last year, they're not now."
The County ward councillor said he took nappies, food and blankets to the woman's house where he topped up the gas and electric meter.
Gerard told the ECHO: "Seeing the relief when I went back with the tokens and the gas cards, she broke down crying and gave me a hug.
"I've come away, got in my car and I broke down crying.
"You get these keyboard warriors and they said, 'The woman shouldn't have had kids', or 'Why did she have another one?'
"We don't know the circumstances, but at the end of the day, it's not that child's fault. Whatever way you look at it, it's not the child's fault.
"And to see them poor babies, it really hurt. I don't know, I thought I was harder than what I am.
"I'm always saying to staff, 'I've seen everything', but I haven't. I'm seeing worse cases by the day."
You can help support families in need by donating to the L6 Centre's GoFundMe here.
