The Myerses don’t live on the brink of economic desperation, but Kathy’s difficulty finding work has drastically changed not just their financial outlook but the can-do attitude she once brought to the workplace.
“The worst part,” said Herb, who went back to his auto-repair job, “is seeing the change in her. She always had the attitude that there was nothing she couldn’t do. But I think being out of work has killed her self-esteem.”
“I clean the house and do laundry, but I don’t make a difference to anybody anymore, outside of Herb,” Kathy said. “You lose faith in yourself. Society loses faith in you, and you start to believe it. That’s an ugly thing.”
It’s not pretty in “the 1-3,” the Myerses’ 80013 ZIP code in Colorado is the second-hardest-hit along the Front Range for unemployment claims. The situation doesn’t look much better in 80229 to the north, a swath of Thornton and unincorporated Adams County that ranks third.
Both have about 1,000 workers who have accessed extended benefits.
But even those areas can’t match the economic futility that plagues a patch of southwest Denver covering neighborhoods as diverse as Harvey Park on the south to Westwood, Barnum West and Valverde moving north. The enclave — 80219 — includes more than 2,200 people subsisting on unemployment.
About half have tapped into extended benefits, reflecting the Front Range trend and putting a statistical measure to the chronic joblessness that besets a Colorado economy straining for a glimpse of recovery.
The three areas feature different landscapes and demographics, yet common threads run through the tales of unemployment. Whether it’s a recent misfortune or a long-term grind, a slide to the economic brink or a setback on the road to retirement, the experience often goes beyond economics to touch relationships, permeate neighborhoods and, on occasion, bring out the best in people.
Ful story: Recession’s reach alters lives, dynamics of Colorado families – The Denver Post