Anybody experiencing trouble with receiving Unemployment? And, likewise, is anybody experiencing trouble with getting COVID 19 CARES act financial assistance to survive since shuttering your small business venture?
I'm curious, because for me it has been three weeks since I was furloughed and in my state, they just processed the first week of benefits I am eligible for last Thursday, but the first benefit check comes in paper form and there is no telling how many days before it comes. In our metro area? There is only a couple of county Work Source Offices (read: unemployment field office) that are fully staffed. In the largest county of our metro area, most of those field offices are not fully staffed, nor do Unemployment case workers take a phone call. The state hot-line number is imploded and does not work, and the state knows it. And, on top of it all, each week as millions of people in our state file for Unemployment benefits, the website is blown up, sometimes on an hourly basis, which I am sure is driving the state IT team crazy and is terribly stressful.
If you're self employed in our state, there is no help and there's no one to process your claim. If you're a small business owner? Same story. You're out of 'luck' because there is no staff to process your claim or to help you secure CARES ACT funding to save you from falling off the social grid.
I took an emergency loan out, shortly after I was laid off, because thankfully our credit union helpful like that. If I am fortunate enough to have those Unemployment benefit claim checks show up in paper form or direct deposited *BEFORE* May 1st, then I'm returning the full amount of the emergency loan, so I don't have to worry about huge monthly payments over a 12 month span of time. Of course, I have another back up plan to activate should my Unemployment funds never show up.
So.... I worry about relatives (my own family) who live in another state because while some states actively care about small business owners, apparently my home state cares nothing for small business owners and in similar ways, it's looking like small business owners and those who are self employed in my state are perilously close to financial ruin.
I personally don't see how the economy can reopen in timely ways but I did have a sneak preview of how long the current funding for people who are approved for Unemployment benefits in my state. And that deadline is July 25th, the anticipated time line for when the current CARES ACT funding is depleted. At least, this is what my physical copies of documents say that were mailed to me from my state UI (Unemployment Insurance) Office.
Super scary right now for everyone. Thankfully I still experience no virus impacts but that's because I abide by social distancing policy and I stay home (for the most part, except for necessity runs to the pharmacy) and when I do go out for a walk or a bike ride, I wear a mask, scarf, gloves and I am super careful.
Just yesterday, I had to go pick up medications and I overheard, while waiting in the waiting 'lounge' nearby, that staffers at my pharmacy location were exposed to COVID-19 (asymptomatically exposed) and now half of their 6 member staff are out on quarantine. They have plexi-glass barriers installed, but the weird part and most telling sign of all, is that none of them were mandated to wear masks or gloves, as an added safety barrier for not only Pharmacy employees, but for the general public who show up to get meds.
So here, again, even in the face of how serious this health crisis is, trained professionals at a pharmacy still do not display a "Safety First" type of mindset and because Safety First is not a core governing principle in their daily lives (personal or public), they've risked their own health and not taken this health crisis seriously, which in turn, has now cost them time off work, and possibly the risk of exposure will lead to consequences that upend their lives in terms of life or death.
I'm continuing to place a high priority for my own safety and I hope you all continue to do the same.
~K.
