Recently, a representative from a local agency spoke with me recently about gaining assistance on paying my utility bill. Lucky for me, I had good timing: the agency only had enough to help two emergency cases for the month. I had to come in the next day and hope beyond hope that the woman's boss was in town that week to give the OK for the help.
"You are going to get through this," the very nice lady told me as I am beginning to wonder if I have "Pity Me" tattooed across my forehead. "I lost my job two years ago and I bounced back."
We talked for awhile, very little to do with my application for assistance. Since I lost a job, I qualify as long as the funds are there. Turns out my new acquaintance had experienced the same thing I was going through. While waiting for unemployment to begin, every applicant must wait a week for the department to research your claim. Fair enough. But you don't get paid for that week. And for those living paycheck to paycheck, it can be a slippery slope of catch up.
"I work for an agency and I can't hardly pay my light bill," she said. "I'm still trying to catch up from two years ago."
I can't help but have this nagging feeling on my mind. True, assistance groups like Goodwill and LIHEAP have seen massive increases. But do we as the needy ever get enough help? And are we looked at as lazy or greedy for needing? How much help is truly necessary?
Monday, September 28, 2009
Friday, September 25, 2009
Welcome to the Jungle
She walks in. It's her first time filing, and she has no clue what to do or who to talk. She is greeted by an elderly woman who sits just left of the entrance. Take a number, she does. 47.
No. 47 takes a seat. The room is somewhat crowded, but the newcomer muses that it's probably a usual crowd for a Monday, especially at the beginning of the month. Children are coloring at a smaller kid-sized table in the far corner. A teen sits next to her mother and texts, sometimes complaining to her companion next to her that the wait is taking so long.
"Are you related to any Williamses in Troy?" the man besides No. 47 asks and she shakes her head. The guy is holding his number. No. 44.
The talk starts out small, meaning only to pass the time. No. 44 says he used to work at a saw mill but hurt his back. He was promised an office job but that fell through. So, he was laid off due to lack of work. 44 took a trip to Texas, planning to use his unemployment benefits to get him back home to Illinois.
But he left his cell phone on the bus. He didn't certify his benefits. His check didn't come.
That was two months ago, and since then more bad luck has befallen him. He is thisclose to losing his fiance. He still can't find a job, and his back has gotten worse. And today marks the fourth, maybe fifth time he has talked to the Illinois Department of Employment Security to figure out this whole mess.
No. 44 is called and he politely says good bye before adding good luck. Now No. 47 is more scared than ever.
"Number 47!" a male voice calls from behind the counter.
It's now her turn. Here goes nothing.
No. 47 takes a seat. The room is somewhat crowded, but the newcomer muses that it's probably a usual crowd for a Monday, especially at the beginning of the month. Children are coloring at a smaller kid-sized table in the far corner. A teen sits next to her mother and texts, sometimes complaining to her companion next to her that the wait is taking so long.
"Are you related to any Williamses in Troy?" the man besides No. 47 asks and she shakes her head. The guy is holding his number. No. 44.
The talk starts out small, meaning only to pass the time. No. 44 says he used to work at a saw mill but hurt his back. He was promised an office job but that fell through. So, he was laid off due to lack of work. 44 took a trip to Texas, planning to use his unemployment benefits to get him back home to Illinois.
But he left his cell phone on the bus. He didn't certify his benefits. His check didn't come.
That was two months ago, and since then more bad luck has befallen him. He is thisclose to losing his fiance. He still can't find a job, and his back has gotten worse. And today marks the fourth, maybe fifth time he has talked to the Illinois Department of Employment Security to figure out this whole mess.
No. 44 is called and he politely says good bye before adding good luck. Now No. 47 is more scared than ever.
"Number 47!" a male voice calls from behind the counter.
It's now her turn. Here goes nothing.
Saturday, September 19, 2009
The Obvious Solution
The other morning, I was listening to the radio when the disc jockey stated that a high percentage of unemployed develop a depression within six months of losing their jobs.
Taking it a step further, the DJ asked his audience to call in with "advice" on how to get those unemployed. Many callers chimed in their two cents, but for the most part, their "advice" was for the unemployed to take a job, any job, to combat those No Job blues.
"It'll give you purpose," one caller said. "Something to wake up to every morning."
In other words, Cowboy Up. (Sorry for the not-so-obvious pun. But it was a country station I was listening to).
Could the solution really be that obvious? True, if you are collecting unemployment insurance, you are able to make 50 percent of your weekly allowance before dollars are deducted from your total. And granted, any responsibility, paid or volunteer, would help to get one's mind off the focus of losing a job.
Columns, news articles and television broadcasts seem to talk at you. The anchors, writers and disc jockeys who give us up-t0-the-minute coverage of The Great Recession ARE employed. These people have jobs to go to every mornning.
Is it hard to relate to someone who has a job? What if he/she gives you some sort of token quote like, "It'll only get better from here" or "Just have a little faith?" Or does that just discourage you more?
Taking it a step further, the DJ asked his audience to call in with "advice" on how to get those unemployed. Many callers chimed in their two cents, but for the most part, their "advice" was for the unemployed to take a job, any job, to combat those No Job blues.
"It'll give you purpose," one caller said. "Something to wake up to every morning."
In other words, Cowboy Up. (Sorry for the not-so-obvious pun. But it was a country station I was listening to).
Could the solution really be that obvious? True, if you are collecting unemployment insurance, you are able to make 50 percent of your weekly allowance before dollars are deducted from your total. And granted, any responsibility, paid or volunteer, would help to get one's mind off the focus of losing a job.
Columns, news articles and television broadcasts seem to talk at you. The anchors, writers and disc jockeys who give us up-t0-the-minute coverage of The Great Recession ARE employed. These people have jobs to go to every mornning.
Is it hard to relate to someone who has a job? What if he/she gives you some sort of token quote like, "It'll only get better from here" or "Just have a little faith?" Or does that just discourage you more?
Friday, September 18, 2009
Will it hit 10?: A Breakdown of the Numbers
The biggest pessimists agree on at least this one point. It's not a matter of if but a matter of when. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the national unemployment rate will continue to peak over 10 percent before reprieve settles in sometime next year.
But 14 states have already reached that milestone. In August, Michigan had the dishonor of the highest in the nation at 15.2 percent. Some portions of the state even mark a jobless rate of (yikes!) more than 20 percent.
As sad as this is, it is not surprising considering the state's claim to fame as the motor capital of the U. S. of A. Plus, Michigan has claimed the highest unemployment rate in the country for more than a year now.
My state, Illinois, is ranked at the 37th highest with 10 percent even.
Other states include Nevada, Rhode Island, Oregon, California, South Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee, Ohio, North Carolina, Florida, Alabama and Georgia. Even the nation's capital cracked the list, tying with Kentucky at the number 44th spot with 11.1 percent.
The national average now is at 9.7 percent, up from 9.4 percent in July. The highest it has been in a generation, at least 26 years.
Is it supposed to get worse before it gets better? The Columbia Journalism Review said these numbers are just a tip of the iceberg, as "it just begins to capture the true misery of joblessness out there." The article pointed out that the numbers fail to represent the percentage of people, or U-6 data, who have become so discouraged that they have quit looking for work or who have quit looking for work in the last few weeks for whatever reason they may have. (The August U-6 number is 16.8, up a half-point from last month and nearly six whole percentage points from last year.)
Yeah, there are definite grounds for being pessimistic these days.
But 14 states have already reached that milestone. In August, Michigan had the dishonor of the highest in the nation at 15.2 percent. Some portions of the state even mark a jobless rate of (yikes!) more than 20 percent.
As sad as this is, it is not surprising considering the state's claim to fame as the motor capital of the U. S. of A. Plus, Michigan has claimed the highest unemployment rate in the country for more than a year now.
My state, Illinois, is ranked at the 37th highest with 10 percent even.
Other states include Nevada, Rhode Island, Oregon, California, South Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee, Ohio, North Carolina, Florida, Alabama and Georgia. Even the nation's capital cracked the list, tying with Kentucky at the number 44th spot with 11.1 percent.
The national average now is at 9.7 percent, up from 9.4 percent in July. The highest it has been in a generation, at least 26 years.
Is it supposed to get worse before it gets better? The Columbia Journalism Review said these numbers are just a tip of the iceberg, as "it just begins to capture the true misery of joblessness out there." The article pointed out that the numbers fail to represent the percentage of people, or U-6 data, who have become so discouraged that they have quit looking for work or who have quit looking for work in the last few weeks for whatever reason they may have. (The August U-6 number is 16.8, up a half-point from last month and nearly six whole percentage points from last year.)
Yeah, there are definite grounds for being pessimistic these days.
Back Beat
I remember being afraid.
Afraid of what was going to happen next. Afraid of not being able to land on my feet. Afraid of how my 20-month-old son would look at me. Would he know that his mom lost something? Does that make his mommy a loser?
Sure, I hated the job. I was chained to a desk for eight hours a day, taking call after call, getting yelled at by doctors and mental health professionals about a patient's particular health insurance policy. It wasn't my fault that the plan didn't cover chiropractors but the blame was all mine.
Yes, it was not my ideal career. It was a job to have a job. But, if ever there was a time to be without one, now was not this time.
I lost my temporary position at Blue Cross Blue Sheild in June after being there for one year. I started this blog in hopes of developing a dialogue on this absolute recession and how people are dealing. Is relief on its way? Will the unemployable and discarded bounce back? And, more importantly, is the government coming up with the correct solutions to better the whole situation?
Stay tuned.
Afraid of what was going to happen next. Afraid of not being able to land on my feet. Afraid of how my 20-month-old son would look at me. Would he know that his mom lost something? Does that make his mommy a loser?
Sure, I hated the job. I was chained to a desk for eight hours a day, taking call after call, getting yelled at by doctors and mental health professionals about a patient's particular health insurance policy. It wasn't my fault that the plan didn't cover chiropractors but the blame was all mine.
Yes, it was not my ideal career. It was a job to have a job. But, if ever there was a time to be without one, now was not this time.
I lost my temporary position at Blue Cross Blue Sheild in June after being there for one year. I started this blog in hopes of developing a dialogue on this absolute recession and how people are dealing. Is relief on its way? Will the unemployable and discarded bounce back? And, more importantly, is the government coming up with the correct solutions to better the whole situation?
Stay tuned.
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