'I will be put out of my house': Some Americans who struggled early in crisis are on brink, others find jobs - USA TODAY

Some unemployed Americans who spoke to USA TODAY early in the COVID-19 crisis are still in danger.

A couple can’t pay myriad bills after the $600 unemployment bonus ran out.

And a $600 federal supplement to weekly unemployment benefits expired in late July, with Congress still deadlocked over renewing at least some of the aid.

The Gainesville, Florida, resident turned to friends and family to pay phone, Internet, and cable bills until she finally received unemployment benefits in the spring, including the extra $600 a week from the federal government.

When she spoke to USA TODAY in August, the $600 had expired, forcing her to make do with $275 in state weekly benefits and again rely on friends and relatives.

But she’s in a race against time: Antoine hopes her unemployment benefits and food stamps start flowing again before her bills are due at the end of the month.

She has continued to do without the occasional take-out dinners and home furnishing purchases she enjoyed when the $600 federal aid was coming in.

When she spoke to USA TODAY last spring in the early days of the pandemic,  Fernandez had been laid off from her job at a catering company while her husband lost his freelance jobs doing sound production.

It took months for the couple to receive unemployment benefits but the aid, including the extra $600 weekly perk, briefly helped them fully cover their expenses.

Now, they're paying just a quarter of their rent and juggling other bills.

But I feel like that’s a first-world problem.’’.

“I feel like these days, because there are so many people out of work … I’m getting lowballed when we get to the point where they ask how much money I want in terms of salary.

I feel like it keeps getting lower and lower.’’.

"I just feel like they’re playing politics," she says.

"I just feel like they’re a little out of touch.

When he spoke to USA TODAY in July, Bolei had been struggling to find work for months and couldn't afford rent after losing his job as a maintenance supervisor for a real estate management company.

Since then, he has fallen further behind on his rent payments, and fears he’ll be evicted once rent moratoriums expire early next year.

State benefits alone haven’t been enough to help him make ends meet after the $600 federal bonus went away in late July.

“Congress needs to reinstate the extra $600 in unemployment aid so that jobless Americans can pay their bills before millions of us end up in the street because we’re evicted,” says Bolei, 63. .

“We’re in a world of hurt,” says Bolei, adding that he feels like the federal government hasn’t done enough to help jobless Americans during the crisis.

When she spoke to USA TODAY in early spring, she had been hospitalized after contracting what she believes was COVID-19.

Metcalfe went from having a full-time job and living comfortably to applying for unemployment and wondering how she was going to pay rent as she recovered from COVID-19. (Photo: Camille C. Fine, for USA TODAY).

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When she spoke to USA TODAY in mid-May, Mahler hadn’t yet gotten unemployment checks because of overwhelmed computer and phone systems, forcing her to draw from savings to pay bills such as rent and utilities

Even after her jobless benefits arrived, including the $600 federal bonus, Mahler maintained her more frugal lifestyle and fruitlessly applied for about 20 recruiting jobs a week

She started working in early August, just after the $600 unemployment bonus ended