The NYT has a profile of a woman who has passed the 99 weeks of unemployment benefits and is now essentially homeless, living in a motel paid for with charity from friends. In 2008 she had a good job and was going to business school. Now she’s on food stamps and making ramen in a motel ice bucket.

From the NYT:

Lining the shelves underneath the television are her food supplies: rice and noodles that [she] mixes with water in the motel’s ice bucket and heats up in a microwave; peanut butter and jelly; a loaf of white bread.

[She] still has food stamps, which she qualified for in Tennessee. But she is required to report her move, which will cut them off, so she will have to reapply in Vermont.

She has been struggling with new obstacles, like what to do when an address is required in online applications. She is worried about what will happen when her cellphone is finally cut off, because then any calls to the number she sent out with her résumés will disappear into a netherworld.

99 Weeks Later, Jobless Have Only Desperation [NYT]

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