LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- As many Kentuckians are still waiting for unemployment pay, a Facebook group is offering hope and answers.
The Facebook group Unemployment Kentucky has more than 32,000 members and counting. It is open to newcomers who can dig through old comments or make their own post, according to the group's creator, Britain Thomas.
She said she lost her job as an IHOP server last march in the wake of the pandemic.
"There is either a post or a comment that can relate to what you are looking for," Thomas said. "The group has information that the unemployment office doesn't give out."
Darlene Louis has been trying to restore her unemployment insurance benefits after being without it for months.
"I filed, I got approved and I drew it for many months and then all of a sudden in August it stopped again," she said.
She said she's been calling the Office of Unemployment Insurance in the morning and sometimes after midnight.
“There's nobody to talk to or answer your questions," Louis said.
She said trying to contact unemployment is like learning to play the piano - a lot of practice and a lot of patience.
"I will not give up faith and I will not give up hope," she said.
Thomas is someone who also refuses to give up. She says the information in the group could be useful for people like Louis, who says she is older and has trouble using Facebook.
"At the beginning we didn't have to wait until midnight because the workers in the group were actually helping people behind the scenes," Thomas said.
The unemployment office is working through more than 120,000 applications, some of which date back to March 2020.
But Louis is hopeful she and many other Kentuckians will collect the benefits they're owed.
"I found myself now not only singing and consoling other people like I have with my spiritual gift, but now I'm consoling myself," she said.
In the meantime, Louis says she’ll continue sharing her gifts.
"I sit down, and I have to play songs every now and then that says I got a feeling everything's going to be alright," Louis added.
The Kentucky Office of Unemployment Insurance has extended its call center hours. You can call (502) 564-2900 between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. Monday through Friday.
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