While Congress continues the back and forth over the prospective reinstatement of extended unemployment benefits that were discontinued December 28, over 20,000 Connecticut residents are sinking deeper into debt and despair.
For every week there remains an absence of an extension, roughly $8 million are not being pumped into the state’s economy.
“We want to be there to make sure these folks, who are looking for work and really want work, get that lifeline,” said Daryle Dudzinski of the Connecticut Department of Labor.
Cheryl Mobley, who most recently worked in loss mitigation, has been searching for work since her company trimmed 100 employees last March.
“I have excellent skills. I’m very employable. I type 65 to 70 words a minute. I know Microsoft Word. As a matter of fact, when I was at Travelers, I pilot tested it,” said Mobley, who may soon lose her car and apartment.
Mobley supports a daughter, who attends high school, and another, who is a college student.
“I don’t want to be standing in the lines looking for food stamps. I want to be employed. I want to show my kids that you get up every day, you go to work,” added Mobley, who asked Fox Connecticut to share her e-mail address. It is camobley_3@hotmail.com.
She says she has applied to everything from general office openings to car washes and grocery stores. Still, she rarely receives a call back.