LAS VEGAS -- Many long-term unemployed workers relying on jobless benefits now have no more help on the way.
Unemployed worker Lani Salazar said she kept calling the unemployment benefit office hoping there was one more lifeline for her, but found she would receive none.
Salazar, who was laid off from her job 18 months ago as a project manager at Hewlett Packard, said she doesn't like to accept help.
"People who really know me well, know that I'm trying to hide this facade," she said. "I'm not used to asking for help. I'm very independent -- always have been. I've been working since I was 16. It kills me to ask for help."
She has a bachelor's in information technology; a master's in health administration; a cosmetology certificate; and attended bartending school.
Mae Worthey, spokeswoman for the state's employment department said the office is flooded with calls.
"Because our unemployment rate fell, we are now losing the state extended benefit program," she said. "Which means just over 5,000 people who are receiving those benefits will lose those."
Salazar and thousands of long-term jobless have one option if they can't find work fast: county social services.
The county offered Salazar a one-time payment of $400.
Her friends try to get Salazar to socialize while looking for a job, telling her she will become depressed not getting out of the house.
"It's not that I get depressed staying home," she said. "I'm actually trying to stay home as long as I can because I don't know how long I'll keep my house."
Out of all those degrees and certificates Salazar has, one came in handy -- a one-time bartending gig at a casino.
Not enough to pay the bills, she said, but just enough to keep up hope.
No congressional bill has been introduced to extend the jobless benefits beyond 18 months.
The 5,500 affected Nevadans promises to increase as more jobless see their benefits expire.
