‘I am going to be screwed’: Unemployed Delawareans face loss of federal benefits
From Delaware Online
Qiana Jones’ catering business, founded in late 2018, really took off last year. But when the coronavirus pandemic hit in early 2020, Jones was forced to return $15,000 worth of payments for canceled events, sending her bank account into the negative.
Jones did not receive her unemployment insurance until the week of July 4. Two weeks before she was paid, she was handed a 60-day eviction notice and moved in with her brothers.
“I’m 48 and sleeping on an air mattress in a living room, and I’m trying to find a place now,” Jones said through tears. “It’s difficult. It’s really hard.”
Jones is among the 12.5% of Delawareans who are unemployed as of June. For some, the $600 per week enhanced unemployment benefit is all that is keeping them afloat. But with those benefits due to expire at the end of the month, many Delawareans who still cannot return to work are wondering how they will go on.