Michigan has the highest unemployment rate in the nation, resulting in long lines at job fairs. Help is available when unemployment benefits run out. Photo by Paul Sancya/AP Photo

Summary:
• Surge in people with no income to hit system
• Almost half a million people on unemployment
• Where to go for help when benefits run out

It’s an astonishing number: 100,000.

By year’s end, 100,000 Michigan residents who already suffered through losing their jobs will run out of unemployment benefits. Even in a state numbed by economic struggle, it is a staggering blow to families and the system.

“I’m not sure we know what’s going to happen once … that last bit of income that people had is gone,” said Nancy Macfarlane, CEO of Community Action, one of 30 Michigan agencies that help the needy.

About 450,000 Michigan residents currently receive unemployment benefits averaging $314 a week, said Norm Isotalo, a spokesman for the Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agency. But with a state unemployment rate at 15 percent, claims are pouring in—almost 58,000 in June alone.

Jobless workers in Michigan can qualify for up to 79 weeks of unemployment. Legislation is pending in Congress to authorize a new 13-week extension and to continue other benefits through 2010.

When the unemployment checks stop, the safety net becomes essential.

Macfarlane’s agency, which covers four southwestern Michigan counties, is ramping up emergency assistance programs to help with housing, medical and other needs. But the aid is limited, Macfarlane said. It won’t pay mortgage or utility bills for months on end. It won’t put food on tables indefinitely.

To get ready for the expected surge in requests for help, the Michigan Department of Human Services is hiring 200 temporary workers and launching an online application system—for food assistance only—said spokeswoman Colleen Steinman.

She said anyone nearing the end of unemployment benefits should fill out the Michigan Assistance and Referral Service’s self-screening questionnaire. It’s an online tool that tells people which programs they may be eligible for.

DHS is often the first stop for people struggling to make ends meet, along with community action agencies like Macfarlane’s.

But, Macfarlane said, “it’s not like you go in and somebody hands you cash.” To get public help, you must document need. People can find the system “shocking and difficult” to navigate, she said, especially those who have never had to ask for assistance.

Janice Phillips, 53, of Detroit, received her first unemployment checks this summer after she was laid off as a disability claims manager. She knows the checks will stop someday. For now, she’s searching hard for a job and trying to stay positive, which is difficult in a state that has lost more than 750,000 payroll jobs since 2000.

Phillips worked for her previous employer for 32 years.

“This is the very first time I’ve ever been unemployed,” she said. “I’ve never been on a disability, never been sick ever a day in my life.”

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