JUDY WOODRUFF: The economic toll keeps accumulating
to levels unseen in modern times.
We are going to focus on that extensively
and the debates over what should be done to
ease the pain.
We begin with the stories of people across
the country out of work.
Many suffered a big financial hit during the
recession of 2008 and are now facing a major
second blow.
Here's a sampling of what we heard from viewers.
MELISSA BALLOWE, New York: Hi, my name is
Melissa Ballowe.
I was the head baker for a small local chain
of coffee shops. I am sincerely, desperately
hoping that I can go back to the bakery once
this all ends.
DWINELL FENTON, Florida: So, my name is Dwinell
Fenton. We're a solar manufacturing company
here in Odessa, right outside of Tampa, Florida.
And March 25, I was laid off. I believe I
have caught two financial downturns in my
lifetime, which is only 35 years.
RITA DAVIS, Texas: My name is Rita Davis.
I live in McKinney, Texas. And we have a store
in the vibrant square of downtown McKinney.
Our business opened in August. So we don't
even have the longevity that a lot of our
neighbors have. Our sales have gone down a
good 95 to 99 percent.
MICHELE DUBOIS, New York: My name is Michele
Dubois. I'm 48. My husband and I live in Upstate
New York.
So, in 2008, I had just come off of maternity
leave. I returned back to work. Six months
later, I was laid off. I wasn't furloughed.
My job was eliminated. Fast-forward 11 years.
I was accepted with the same company again.
A pandemic happened, and my job has been furloughed,
with several other people. It's a little bit
of a nightmare all over again.
DWINELL FENTON: The financial crisis of 2008
was -- it was tough. My father and I bought
a home together. I believe we paid $104,000
for that home in 2000 -- in January 2008.
And, by 2009, the same year, it was worth
a fraction of the $104,000.
(LAUGHTER)
DWINELL FENTON: So, I have my fingers crossed
that it's not going to get much worse than
this.
RITA DAVIS: We did have -- opened a business
in 2008-2009. Kind of -- we signed a lease,
like a five-year lease, like two days or a
week before the bottom fell out, and there
was no way we could get out of that.
So we had to move forward, and just hoping
that the next time that we decide to do something
like that, that that's not the situation that
we sign onto.
But, lo and behold, here it is. You know,
we're seven months into it, and kind of the
bottom has fallen out again.
MELISSA BALLOWE: When I lost my job in the
2008-2009 recession, I got absolutely no support
whatsoever regarding my federal student loans.
I would say that it was a nightmare, but that's
probably an understatement. I got calls all
hours of the day. My family got calls. My
friends got calls asking me -- or asking how
I was going to pay, when I was going to pay.
Over 10 years later, I finally felt like I
had rebuilt myself. I finally felt that I
had started over again. And so here we go
again. Like, what do I do now? How do I rebuild
myself after this? I don't know yet. I don't
have an answer to that.
JUDY WOODRUFF: We thank you all for your voices.
