Letter to the editor: Missouri’s unemployment system is broken. Help, Gov. Parson

Gone unanswered

Of all the things that are tough during these difficult times during the coronavirus pandemic, trying to start an unemployment insurance claim should not be the hardest thing to accomplish after you find yourself without a job through no fault of your own.

Social media outlets, Facebook in particular, show us multiple instances of good Missourians helping other Missourians try to cope with the state’s unemployment benefit system. But it is almost impossible to trust the government that told us to stay home to help fight the virus or to be confident that those who need unemployment help will get it.

The system is broken. People are losing their homes, their cars, their apartments. They sell their belongings to make the rent.

Meanwhile, calling the unemployment phone numbers is a numbing process of waiting to be told that the system is working (it is not), but to have patience.

These people need their benefits, not promises, but it is taking more than two months in some cases. In that time, everything is disappearing while children go without food and bills pile up.

It seems Gov. Mike Parson just doesn’t care, or more would be done faster.

- Timothy R. Estabrook, Lake Waukomis