Stuck with my ex-friend's debt after she skipped town

Hello, my name is Elektra. Not my legal name, but my chosen name. I use it because of toxic family online & because I'm LGBTQ. I'm low income on ssi, disabled, & needing help. I'm needing some advice! My husband passed away last July due to a lupus & a serious lung infection. After he passed, I was homeless for 2 months with a ex friend. This was due to my apartment housing my husband I had lived in were sold. Also a myriad of other reasons why I couldn't return to my old apartment. My ex friend & I were sleeping on other friend's couches. We were both grieving the loss of my husband. At least I thought the two of us were. She had never given me any reason to think her malicious. My husband & I had known her for quite some time. Around October 1st we had found a 2 bedroom place with HUD. We both had agreed to go half on the utilities & rent. But my ex friend was trying to get disability & get a job with the help of our counciling place. She "seemed" to trying to make an effort. I told her that as soon as she got on disability & a job she would have to help with the bills. I asked her before we did anything if there was anything she needed to share with me. I told her we had bee friends for awhile & she knew I liked honesty. She said there was nothing she needed to share. So we agreed I would foot the bills until she could get all of this done. She was almost done with her approval for disability. HUD would pay a portion of the rent & we would pay the rest. My friend was placed on my HUD as neither of us could find a 1 bedroom anything in our small town. It was my case file through HUD. We signed the lease, our church paid the deposit, & we paid first month's rent. We took the lease up to my local utility office & showed them the lease. This was to prove that we had the new residence & filled out an application. The utility office returned to me stating that one of us owed a substantial amount of past debt. That they would not turn the power on at our new place. It was my hud, under my name. It was my lease, under my name. My ex friend was secondary on the lease & in order to have a two bedroom there had to be two of us with HUD standards. Well, I knew it wasn't me with the debt. Because my husband & I had living previously in an all bills paid residence before I was homeless. The bills were included with our rent. So I turned angrily to my friend & I asked the utility company how much she owed. They said she owed $1,273! I had already signed the lease, she was second on lease as stated before. She was on my HUD & on my lease. Because I was first on the lease, they said that they would not turn on the power in my name. I had already signed the lease, paid first month's rent, & my church had paid the deposit. I was kind of already committed to this two bedroom. If I gave up everything I would be disabled & homeless all over again. If she had not been on my HUD I would not have been able to get this two bedroom. I was running out of couches to sleep on & couldn't find a 1 bedroom. My "friends" told me that I could no longer do this because I was bothering them with all of my crying & grieving for my husband. I asked the utility office since she was under my hud & lease what could we do to deal with this. They said that I would have to sign a contract saying I would do a payment plan of $40 a month plus my utility bill. They stated if I did this I was acknowledging that I was absorbing her debt as mine. I had no other choice. I had no place to go, with my medical conditions I wouldn't survive out on the streets. I don't have dependable family to help me out. I signed the contract & didn't understanding the ramifications this. I am mentally disabled & go to therapy for that issue. I have bpd, anxiety, DID, & ptsd. I didn't know that utilities were so high in my town! Exactly 11 days after signing this contract, taking on her debt, my ex friend skipped town. All while I was at an app. for grief counseling for the loss of my husband. She ended up taking all of her things, a few of my things, and my dog. She moved out of state to somewhere in Arkansas to be with some guy she met online. She hadn't got on disability like she had promised & didn't even have a job. Now I'm stuck with her debt under my name. I have been talking to our town's attorney & he says that I cannot get out of the debt. He says I absorbed her debt & it's under my name. I ended up losing the two bedroom house because she removed herself from my hud. Because my HUD office said I was one person in a two bedroom home. I no longer qualified for it. I ended up having to move to a one-bedroom apt. in emergency move they luckily found & the debt followed me. The utility company told me the debt would follow me no matter where I went within my small town. I even though I took a letter signed by HUD & notarized by HUD's notary stating my ex friend had been removed from my HUD case to the attorney. I also took my current lease I have for a one bedroom I am currently in. It too states that she is not on my new lease. I had those two pieces of proof that she was no longer associatedwithme. My question is are there any resources such as grants or organizations that could help me pay off this debt completely!? One friend has a Gofundme going, I'm working with churches, fighting city council, & have done a Tiktok video with my cashapp tag listed looking for help! I have done 5 payments of $40 in so far. But its getting super tight to be doing the payment plan & my electric bill at the same time! My debt left is $865.86 so far. But yet my therapy team and I have not found anything in my area that could help. I have gone to Salvation Army to pay one of my electric bills. But they only help once a year & not with past debt. Im on LIHEAP and only send 2 lump sums to cover current bills 2 times a year. I don't have money for an attorney. I don't have money for court costs. So small claims court is out of the option. I also don't know where my ex friend moved to an Arkansas either.I have a feeling she has not gotten on disability or gotten herself a job even in Arkansas. After talking to Legal Aid, they said it would take forever to find her. It would be like looking for a needle in a haystack. They said my best option was just to try to fight City Council themselves. I just need help since I can't get out of this debt apparently, even though I am trying. I don't know how much more of this I can take. I don't sleep very well anymore. I barely eat anymore and have lost weight drastically because of all of this.