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'I've broke down plenty of nights': Atlanta mother, others face struggle of pandemic unemployment

Kanisha Mayweather, who lives in Atlanta, felt forced to quit her job in April, afraid of exposing her three children to COVID.

ATLANTA — Every day, Kanisha Mayweather inches closer to her breaking point. The only currency she has in abundance right now is faith.

"I do a lot of praying. I think about my kids, they need me,” she said. “I've broke down plenty of nights, thinking what am I going to do."

NBC News first profiled Mayweather back in June when Black Americans were facing their highest unemployment rate in a decade. Mayweather, who lives in Atlanta, felt forced to quit her job in April, afraid of exposing her three children to COVID.

“I feel sad because I can't provide for my kids like I normally would,” she said.

Fundraiser:  Help for Kanisha and her kids 

Mayweather's eldest daughter was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer. Her youngest has breathing problems.

"If I don't have to take them out, I will not take them out," Mayweather said.

And just a week earlier came another devastating blow.

“Right now, I just received the email that I was getting my last check,” she said.

That additional $600 the federal government had given to unemployed Americans like Mayweather was gone.

"Don't know how I'm going to continue to pay my bills,” she said. “I'm gonna have to borrow, I guess, and hopefully everything gets paid."

In Brooklyn New York, Stacey Davis lost her job in April when New York was the epicenter of the pandemic. She said it had been 141 days since she had first been out of work.

"It's becoming very, very frustrating, very alarming. And just very scary,” she said.

She's since been searching for work, and the loss of that extra $600 could mean Davis will need to make drastic changes. She suggests those changes could come soon.

“I would say about another two to three months and then that's it,” she said.

For the first time in his adult life, human resources executive Victor Patterson was laid off.

NBC's Morgan Radford spoke to Patterson in the beginning of the summer and several months into his job search. Since then, Patterson has been locked in an uphill battle.

"You don't have anything tangible to say to your wife or significant other that makes them feel like you're closer,” he said. “It's tough."

He's been spending 12 hours every day searching for the next opportunity. But his hard work paid off – and his prayers were answered.

“I was able to land a global HR director for an organization that is looking to grow well beyond its current revenue positions," he said.

Proof that, through perseverance, anything is possible.

“It's a battle of your mind," he said.

An example of hope during this pandemic - and never losing faith.

“There is a shining light at the end of this dark cloud,” he said.

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