“We are on the verge of disaster,” said Eleyna Fugman, who’s been sporadically employed for 18 months.
Fugman says she relies upon the weekly $257 she gets in unemployment benefits and that the money goes right back into the economy through her payment of bills. She says cutting off her money won’t help to end the recession.
At the rally and news conference organized by the Sunnyside Self-Help Employment Group in advance of the deadline Nov. 30 for Congress to act, organizers said 7,500 Oregon families would immediately lose their money if Congress refuses to continue the benefits. And in another month’s time, 7,500 more Oregon families would lose their unemployment benefits as well.
Francisco Holdman, a veteran and single parent, has been unemployed since 2008. He gets $195 per week and says he feels like he is drowning slowly, currently owing his friends and family thousands of dollars.
“I’m deeply troubled that we’re not taking care of our needy,” he said.
Dems Seek Unemployment Extension
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