Indy woman has been waiting for unemployment benefits for months

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - Carmen Willis worked for IMMI in Westfield for 14 years. In February, she was laid off after suffering an injury. But she’s still waiting for her unemployment benefits.

She waited a week after receiving her walking papers to receive her unemployment benefits. Then a week turned into more. Now, it’s fourteen weeks and counting.

“I thought it would take three weeks or four at the tops,” she said. “I didn’t know I was going to go into 14 or 15 weeks.”

The mother checks her laptop daily, even hourly, but she gets no response. Willis has filed for her unemployment benefits every Sunday. She has even kept a running log of each time she has applied.

“It’s very frustrating to get different people to talk to you, and everyone is saying something different,” she said.

24-Hour News 8 called the spokesperson for the Department of Workforce Development office. We left a message, but we did not receive a call back. On the department’s web site, it clearly states that the unemployed should receive their benefits three weeks after applying if there are no issues.

Wednesday afternoon, Willis received a call from the DWD informing her that her claim is currently being processed. But until she gets her benefits, she is draining her bank account.

“Every week on Sunday I file my unemployment claim and I wait, and nothing,” she said.