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  • Approved for CNN

    • Click to view bduren6's profile
    Posted July 1, 2010 by
    bduren6
    Location
    Roselle, Illinois
    Assignment
    Assignment
    This iReport is part of an assignment:
    Losing unemployment benefits

    More iReports you should see

    Unemployment has seriousely affected my family and the proposed UI extensions are necessary

    By bduren6  |  Posted July 1, 2010  |  Roselle, Illinois
     

    CNN PRODUCER NOTE     bduren6 of Roselle, Illinois, is unemployed and the expenses are piling up for he and his wife and three girls. His youngest daughter, Madison, was recently diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis. Duren’s employer let him go in February because of all the time he had to take off to be with his daughter, he says. His wife has been on disability since 2005 when she was diagnosed with a rare neurological disorder. This week, he received his final unemployment check.
    - zdan, CNN iReport producer

    My name is Scott Duren and am a resident of Illinois where the unemployment rates have been high for quite some time.  I am an educated college graduate with a family including 3 beautiful girls.

     

    My wife has been disabled since 2005 due to the fact that she started having heart attacks at age 36 in addition to a rare neurological disorder called Trigeminal Neuralgia and I had just returned to work in Novemeber of 2009 after a long period of unemployment and searching for work.  Unfortunately, in January of 2010 after only a few months on the job my youngest daughter Madison was hospitalized with Pneumonia for the second time in 13  months and subsequently diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis.  While my daughter was in the hospital and we were receiving this devastating diagnosis my employer decided to let me go. Due to the fact that I hadn't been on my job long enough, I was forced to go back on the UI extension program in place at that time.  Now those weeks are about to expire.

     

    We have been paying Cobra  because  my daughter needs special attention and is seen at Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago.  Between losing my job and having to pay Cobra we have depended on my unemployment benefits.  I have been actively searching for work and every day I send out my resume to every available position that I am qualified for to no avail.  The phone is just not ringing.  The medical bills are piling up, and Congress is stalling to add any additional UI extensions that we the people desperately need.

     

    It seems that Congress is now more concerened about the BP oil spill, immigration and foreign wars than the people in this country that are unemployed, losing their homes and medical benefits.

     

    My story is just one of many.  I can sympathize with the hundreds of thousands of unemployed Americans who are losing their American Dream and I am asking that we urge Congress to do the right thing for the American people and help us get back on our feet instead of deeper and deeper in the hole.

     

    Sincerely,

     

    Scott A. Duren

    (630) 283-0322

    bduren6@aol.com

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