NC families hold out hope for stimulus check as Christmas approaches

Families across North Carolina can't afford Christmas this year due to economic hardships brought on by the pandemic. More are facing eviction notices and struggling to keep the lights on in their home. With bills mounting, people are holding out hope that the federal government will pass some sort of coronavirus stimulus relief in time.

Posted 3:21 a.m. Dec 19, 2020 — Updated 12:18 a.m. Dec 23, 2020

Kirsten Gutierrez

, WRAL reporter

DURHAM, N.C. — Families across North Carolina can't afford Christmas this year due to economic hardships brought on by the pandemic. More are facing eviction notices and struggling to keep the lights on in their home. With bills mounting, people are holding out hope that the federal government will pass some sort of coronavirus relief bill relief in time.

Congress avoided a government shutdown on Friday night, and now lawmakers have the weekend to wrestle over a coronavirus relief bill. The last significant form of economic relief was passed in March.

The second round of stimulus could include a $600 check to each Americans, about half the size of the checks included in the $2.2 trillion stimulus law enacted in March. For some families facing eviction and homeless, that number is a slap in the face.

Kelli Brown, a Durham resident, said she is three months behind on her rent payment and two months behind on her electricity bill. This Christmas, she is focused on keeping the lights on for her family. Since the publication of this article, a GoFundMe page for her family raised $4,000.

"The kids, they don't understand that it's Christmas and we're going through this and we're not making any money right now," she said. "They're not understanding, 'why are there no gifts under the tree, mom why are you not shopping.'"

Brown was laid off earlier this year and still can't find a job.

"They are using us as pawns not as human beings," Brown said about lawmakers.

Sen. Mitch McConnell, Senate majority leader, privately made the case to Republicans on Wednesday for a stimulus deal that includes another round of direct payments to struggling Americans, suggesting that delivering such help could boost the party’s hopes of hanging onto their majority in the Senate.

In a call on Wednesday afternoon, McConnell said that Sens. Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue, who are both facing a Georgia runoff that will determine which party controls the Senate, were “getting hammered” for Congress’s failure to deliver more pandemic aid to struggling Americans — particularly the direct payments — and that enacting the measure could help them. The Kentucky Republican also emphasized that the package could be signed by President Donald Trump, who has pushed for another round of stimulus checks, and would help those devastated by the pandemic.

"I feel like their checks should be cut off just as well as ours are," Brown said. "They need to feel what we're going through right now because they're not feeling it."

Kira Ramroop, a Raleigh resident, is also facing eviction. She said she cries herself to sleep at night, worried about feeding her children. Her GoFundMe page raised more than $4,000 in one day since the publication of this article.

"I have never, ever faced an eviction ever in my life. So for this to actually happen to me this year, I'm serious when I cried every day," she said.

Robert Finch, a Raleigh resident, is also facing eviction. Finch is a colon cancer survivor and recently suffered from a heart attack. Now, Finch is nine months behind on rent. Him and his five children are about to evicted, right before Christmas. Since the publication of this article, a GoFundMe for Finch's family has raised more than $5,000.

When will you get a second stimulus check?

The $900 billion package comes as the pandemic is delivering its most fearsome surge yet, killing more than 3,000 victims per day and straining the nation's health care system. While vaccines are on the way, most people won't get them for months.

The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits rose again last week to 885,000, the highest weekly total since September, as a resurgence of coronavirus cases threatens the economy's recovery from its springtime collapse.

Kimberly Muktarian, a Wake County Public School System teacher, said that she has seen parents send their children back to school, even if they are not comfortable with in-person learning.

"They have to go back to unsafe places and send their kids back to school so they can keep the lights on," Muktarian said.

Brown said she hopes that the government sends out the checks as fast as possible.

"There are millions of people out here on the verge of homelessness, lights being cut off, no food, no water," Brown said. "It's really tough."

Suggest A Correction