KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The burden of unemployment is weighing on every affected home across Missouri and Kansas.
"Our budget is not made for a one-income family. It's been difficult," said Joanna Waughtal, a salon owner in Wichita. "Trying to find the money to take care of things like groceries."
Bryant Tucker, a substitute teacher in Kansas City, Kansas, said he recently started receiving his unemployment benefits.
"I was finally approved for $120 a week, which for the average American and probably the non-average, $120 a week is not a lot of money," Tucker said.
For others, it's been an incredibly stressful time.
"You spend your days calling all your creditors and explaining to them, 'I'm sorry, I can't make this payment,'" said Nancy Publow, a data processing specialist, describing her constant phone calls during her own unemployment period.
Emma Spencer reached out to 41 Action News, saying that she received Kansas Department of Labor paperwork indicating she qualified for unemployment, but the hair stylist in Overland Park hasn't seen any money come through yet.
"I just felt like I've hit a brick wall and I'm kind of on my own, on an island and waving a white flag," Spencer said.
Emotions are running the spectrum for those affected — most of them frustration, anger and even hopelessness.
"I got to get up and do this again," Publow said. "Couldn't get through today; we got to start all over again tomorrow."
There's a constant worry about what an uncertain future might look like.
"It's really difficult when you spend 25 years building a business and you don't know what the future of the business looks like," Waughtal said.
It's a trying time for those trying to make ends meet, but they hope their stories help their neighbors and give a voice to better days ahead.
"I'm desperate for something, someone to help. So just having a voice, to me, is what I can do," Spencer said.
"There's light at the end of the tunnel, and everything is not going to be a failure," Tucker added. "So just keep your head up, stay motivated and just keep pushing."
