Vital unemployment programs that were put in place nationwide at the start of the pandemic end this weekend and many unemployed people in Florida fear the worst.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With the delta variant surge and the eviction moratorium lifted, for some, it\u2019s the only thing keeping a roof over their head and food on the table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ken Okel\u2019s unemployment began when the pandemic started in 2020. Okel works in the meetings industry as a motivational speaker but in a world where audiences are few and far between, he\u2019s had to rely on Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s one of the federal programs that allowed people who weren\u2019t eligible for state benefits to get some help, like those who are self-employed or independent contractors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI have been unable to work in the field that I\u2019m trained for. And the unemployment has been invaluable,\u201d Okel said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This wasn\u2019t something he\u2019d rehearsed for but he\u2019s trying his best to keep his business afloat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI think there\u2019s a conception that people on unemployment are just sitting on the couch, I can assure you, there\u2019s been no sitting on the couch,\u201d Okel said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He is surviving mainly on savings and unreliable unemployment benefits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cImagine spending all your day trying to call into a phone system that hangs up on you by design. Imagine trying to log into a website where you\u2019ve entered in important information, and then the site crashes,\u201d Okel said. \u201cIn the meantime, all the bills have continued.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so has the pandemic, but after Sept. 6, PUA and other pandemic benefits will end, including the Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) program, which added weeks for people who qualified for state benefits but then ran out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The federal government doesn\u2019t plan to extend these programs, however, President Joe Biden has encouraged hard-hit states to use leftover money from the American Rescue Plan to continue them for a few more weeks, but that likely won\u2019t happen in Florida.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMaybe it\u2019s time to revisit some of the support mechanisms because it\u2019s going to be a lot harder for people over the next few months without that support,\u201d Okel said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Department of Economic Opportunity said this week the state is ready for them to end, thanks to their \u201cReturn to Work Initiative\u201d and the many job listings currently online.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Unemployment advocate Vanessa Brito said the reality is very different.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cPeople are really not getting callbacks,\u201d Brito said. \u201cThey\u2019re putting together different resumes, different versions to cater to different positions. So they\u2019re trying, and they\u2019re desperate now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And Okel is not getting the results he hoped for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019m able to do my job virtually. But for some organizations, they say, yeah, we just don\u2019t want to do a virtual event. We want to wait another year until people can meet together,\u201d Okel said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He\u2019s already started to get cancelations for this fall and he is afraid it is not going to stop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019ve had to reinvent my business, I\u2019ve had to get additional education, I\u2019ve had to buy additional equipment, had to pinch every penny,\u201d Okel said. \u201cBut when that marketplace doesn\u2019t have money to give you because of cutbacks they\u2019ve experienced, or safety concerns, there\u2019s not a lot I can do.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Despite his way with words, he needs a couple of hundreds of dollars a week in unemployment benefits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The reality is you\u2019re treading water and you have no idea when the storm is going to end,\u201d Okel said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n