GREENTOWN, Pa. — The story that Garry Ammeraal from Greene Township shared with me on the phone today is one that has become practically commonplace.
He lost his job last spring and joined the hundreds of thousands of people on Pennsylvania's unemployment rolls.
Things were going as well as they could have been until the federal CARES Act expired.
Neither Ammeraal nor his fiance have seen a dime since November.
"This is money that people need to survive. Right now, we have zero dollars. I literally have no more money. Everything we've saved up is gone. Every day I call my card, hoping that something's on there," he said.
He's one of the thousands.
On social media, it's story after story - people sharing their struggle and exasperation.
"People are on the verge of like committing suicide, doing drastic measures because they need money that they're being held back from," said Ammeraal.
The program was extended at the end of December. That's when the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry posted on its website that "several weeks may pass" before the U.S. Department of Labor issues all the guidance needed for payments to resume. The state encouraged people to apply for other forms of benefits while they wait.
"We have three kids, two kids in diapers. I mean, thank god for county assistance, we have food stamps, and that's helped out with the food," said Ammeraal.
A spokesperson from the state tells us the temporary gap is due to delays from the federal government, saying in part: "Congress only passed the extension in late December, and the president waited days to sign it. Adding to that delay, the federal Department of Labor did not provide the information that L&I needs to run the program until Monday, Jan. 11. L&I began urging the federal government to extend the unemployment programs back in mid-November to avoid exactly this type of disruption to Pennsylvanians who depend on these payments."
We also reached out to the federal Department of Labor. A spokesperson told us states were provided several training sessions on the new program during the first week of January. The spokesperson also said the department does not have any specifics on each state's timeline for resuming payments, just that every state has its own unique challenges.
The Pennsylvania L&I spokesperson says the unemployment office is doing everything it can to speed up the process and will announce when people can expect their money.
Newswatch 16 did hear from someone who received three weeks' worth of missing payments this morning.