Angie Gross needs new teeth.
She told the Des Moines Register she isn t sure of the exact issue, but the bones in her gums have deteriorated so much that some of her teeth have gotten loose. She has a dentist appointment Tuesday.
Problem is, Gross said she s not sure she ll make it. Her car doesn t have enough gas for the trip from her Atlantic home to the office in Council Bluffs. She said she has $4.60 left on the debit card where Iowa Workforce Development uploads her weekly unemployment payments.
She said she didn t get paid this week, the result of an error at agency as it transitions to a new debit card provider. Gross, 49, said a customer service representative told her she should get her weekly payment $172, after taxes by next week. For now, she plans to wait at home for the funds.
James Furry still doesn t understand how he became indebted to the state.
Furry, 59, was a maintenance worker at a Dubuque nursing home when the COVID-19 pandemic began. With an order from his doctor to quarantine, Furry filed for unemployment in April.
Furry, who weighs 300 pounds and suffers from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, has survived three heart attacks. His father died of a heart attack. His brothers have suffered them, too. It s just a family history, you know? Furry said. Some people are unfortunate.
He thought he qualified for benefits through Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, a federal program Congress created in March to cover people who stop working because they are especially vulnerable to the virus.