Unemployed CWU students assisted by the Coronavirus Aid Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act

Story by Peighton Bortle | Contributions by Joseph Stanger | Design by Itzel Montoya | Edited by David Snyder

Screen Shot 2020-08-04 at 1.58.49 PM.JPG

Brooke Sandoval didn’t know she would be ripped away from the place she called home for the last four years. In the midst of finals week, the start of a global pandemic, and the abrupt end of her senior year, she had to leave without properly saying goodbye. “I knew everything going on was serious, but I didn't think it was going to be this bad,” she says.

Sandoval is a senior Biology major at CWU, specializing in Biomedicine. She is one of many that lost her job because of COVID-19 and was left with no choice but to rely on unemployment.

“I remember my first year was crazy, but I wasn’t even dealing with a pandemic then,” she says. “I was telling my dad at the time I didn’t know how I did it because they were the hardest quarters of my life.”

The CARES Act

CWU sent out a campus-wide email to inform students about the CARES Act, hoping it could benefit those who lost their jobs and were concerned about their finances. The Coronavirus Aid Relief and Economic Security Act, also known as the CARES Act, is a law that was signed by President Trump on March 27. It is a $2 trillion financial aid package providing support to those who have been impacted by the economic fallout of the COVID-19.

Many students have a hard time qualifying for unemployment benefits, but this Act makes it possible for anyone who has lost their job because of coronavirus. The U.S. Department of the Treasury claims that Americans are seeing fast and direct relief in the wake of the pandemic. Many students have taken advantage of filing for unemployment under both the CARES Act and the PUA (Pandemic Unemployment Assistance) claim.

The Washington Tax Foundation, responsible for research studies representing U.S. tax policies both federally and state-wide, says that 43 percent of undergrad students are employed in some way, and full-time students are rarely eligible for unemployment benefits. The CARES Act is a positive step forward because it covers the high percentage of working students becoming unemployed due to COVID-19.

Confusion and COVID Chaos

After the campus closure and all classes going online, Sandoval had to move home. She immediately spiraled into a state of stress after suddenly losing her job, which helped her cover basic needs while living on her own. She feared becoming a financial burden to her parents -- who had also lost their jobs -- especially knowing her two older sisters and two nieces had to come back home too.

Sandoval suffers from an autoimmune disease that hinders her ability to apply for other jobs to replace the financial support she lost -- a requirement to be eligible for unemployment.

“They didn’t want me out because I am more susceptible to get the virus,” Sandoval says. “I lived [away] in Ellensburg the whole time, so I felt like I still needed some sort of income to pull my own weight.”

She misses working at the Panda Express on Central’s campus because it was where she met her closest friends at school and had the most laughs. “I was definitely really sad. I spent four years here, and to see everyone this time of year getting all of their caps and gowns, but not being able to go on campus has made me really sad,” she says.

What’s the Use?

Having a job enables fewer financial obligations, including living expenses, as many students use their paychecks to cover their rent. For some students and their parents, The CARES Act has provided such great support that it’s difficult for them to imagine what they would do without it.

Christina Le, a junior Healthcare Leadership major, feels this exact way after losing her job at a restaurant. Now she has to rely on her parents, as her main income is unemployment. “We don”t know if we can financially stabilize our family incomes, so we have to watch our spending,” she says. “Seeing everyone held up inside really made them stressed, and their jobs are in jeopardy too, so it just adds onto the stress.”

Le qualifies for the CARES Act and receives a chunk of money every week, ranging around $1,000. She uses the money for basic needs and helping out her parents. “If they can’t afford to pay for things, I don’t want them to spend money because paying for actual stuff right now is more important than paying for my college tuition, to be honest,” Le says. She hasn’t held back using the money she receives to give it to her parents. Her household consists of her, two younger siblings, a few cousins, and her parents.

Le thinks deeply about how she can’t imagine what her parents feel after their jobs were put on hold. Le’s family fears not knowing when they will be able to reopen their salon from the shutdown.

Desperate Times Call for Desperate Money

Junior Law and Justice major Kassandra Bender faced unemployment and being pushed out of campus early in only her first year living on her own. However, Bender has extra financial help from her mom while living away.

Bender uses her weekly unemployment money to pay rent -- which she wouldn’t be able to pay without her campus job -- and stock up on food and toiletries for quarantine. “With that money, I was able to pay off a few bills… and I’m able to buy books. I was able to buy a printer that I needed for schoolwork, too,” Bender says.

“Because of the CARES Act, it went up $600, before that, I was only getting about $180 [of unemployment benefits], and now I get around $700,” she says. She receives this chunk of money, knowing that if she isn’t going to save it, she will use it to help herself in the meantime.

“I am expecting to deal with college debt for a long period of time in my life. Mental states have gone down a bit during quarantine… relieving that pressure of money I owe helps a lot,” she says. With three more entire years of education to go, Bender feels enormous pressure.

How the CARES Act Cares for CWU Community

CWU’s Financial Aid Director Adrian Naranjo says as a part of the original CARES Act, money was given to schools around the country to be distributed to students who did not receive stimulus checks, and who are still in need of financial support. Nearly $3 million was allocated to CWU from the grant.

”We know that a lot of students reached out to ask for financial assistance,” Naranjo says. “My assumption would be that the stimulus they were receiving was doing not enough to help them cover their expenses, and that’s why they had to request additional assistance through the CARES grant.”

According to Naranjo, Congress issued money to schools because they realized many students would not be receiving checks. "If they hadn't put money in there, a lot of students would've had nowhere to go," he says.

Naranjo says over 2,000 student employees were let go when the pandemic put the campus on lockdown. Some students had trouble finding financial support from their parents, who also lost their jobs. “In general, students can reach out to parents and say, ‘Hey can you help me for a month or something,’” Naranjo says, “But when parents are in the same situation, that’s a tough financial bind to be in.”

A Look Into the Future

The CARES Act has improved the issue of unemployment due to COVID-19 for not only students, but families, businesses, and companies. The stress that the pandemic has caused the world financially is still lingering as many businesses still face restrictions in different parts of the country. The Act will continue to be beneficial for many more months to come, or at least until things are back to normal.

If students come back to campus in the fall, Naranjo says he hopes that some of the money given to CWU from the CARES Act will be able to help fund unemployment again.

“Right now, we don’t know what coming back on campus in the fall looks like yet,” Naranjo said in the Spring. “We’re trying to figure out how we can use [CARES Act] funds to get students working again.”

The Act expires at the end of July unless Congress comes to an agreement on a new relief package. According to a July article in Forbes magazine online, Senate Democrats want CARES Act benefits to last until the job market recovers, but Republicans are pushing back with the argument that more insurance will discourage people from returning to work. For some Republican legislators, instead of more unemployment benefits, cash bonuses are preferred for those returning to their jobs.

Going further into summer, students who still need assistance or are interested in applying, CARES Act money will still be available, and back-to-work bonuses will be added.