Sheila Gilbert, President of the St. Vincent dePaul Society USA, urges “Take Action!1.3 million jobless workers lost Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC) benefits right after Christmas

Dear Vincentians,

Yesterday, in a bipartisan vote, the Senate passed a bill to extend unemployment insurance for the millions of American who continue to struggle to find work in this persistently sluggish economy.

I am writing today to ask your to contact your US Representative and have him or her urge Speaker Boehner to bring this bill to a vote.

Here is an explanation of the issue from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities:

“An estimated 1.3 million jobless workers lost Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC) benefits right after Christmas when the program expired. If Congress doesn’t restart it, the number of affected workers will continue to climb each week, reaching 4.9 million by the end of the year. Families rely on unemployment benefits to meet basic needs like food, health care, and housing while they look for work. With EUC’s expiration, only regular state unemployment benefits — which last 26 weeks in most states — are available to qualifying workers who lose their jobs through no fault of their own.”

Vincentians know the pain that these families are having on their road to self-sufficiency. When you write to your House member, please feel free to include a story of someone you’ve visited. As always, please change the names to honor confidentiality.

Take action!

Thank you for the work you do for those in need.

God Bless,

Sheila Gilbert

President

National Council of the United States Society of St. Vincent de Paul