ORLANDO, Fla. – Imagine after waiting two years for state and federal unemployment benefits, one visit to a television studio gets all your missing money, more than $8,000, deposited in your account in 48 hours.
That’s what happened for Elaine, a former Florida sales manager with Master Containers Inc., after taking a chance and stopping by WKMG-TV to talk to producer Robert Breuer of Make Ends Meet.
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She has asked that we not use her last name for this story.
“When I looked at my bank account I went, ‘Oh, there’s more money in there than I thought,’” she told News 6.
The 75-year-old divorced mother of one admitted she was tired of being retired so she had taken a job with the U.S. Census Bureau as an office clerk in 2019, only to be laid off the following year because of the pandemic.
She said she applied for benefits in December 2020, after being laid off on Oct. 31, 2020, but “nothing happened.”
Elaine admitted her attempts to file and collect unemployment benefits were so frustrating she decided to “back away” from the whole process.
“The frustration was unlike anything I have ever been through,” she said. “I mean, they told me that I never worked, they couldn’t find me.”
She gathered dozens of pages, including past pay stubs, and came to WKMG-TV to present her proof.
She said her friends and her son pushed her to ask the Make Ends Meet staff for help.
News 6 sent key documents to the Department of Economic Opportunity and a representative called Elaine to assure her the money was on the way.
The first two deposits of just under $5,000 were in her account by Tuesday.
“You got results,” Elaine told News 6. “As I said, two days later, I had two checks direct deposited in my account. That’s when I knew it was real.”
Her DEO account shows she will have a total of more than $8,000 in state and federal benefits.
Remember, if you have an unemployment issue and have the documents to prove your eligible, we will make it right.
For assistance, please email makeendsmeet@wkmg.com or text the words “Make Ends Meet” to 407-676-7428.
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