‘Weight off my shoulders.’ COVID stimulus helps families make ends meet amid pandemic struggles

Some New Jerseyans who remain unemployed because of the COVID-19 pandemic say that they are relying on the federal stimulus check for their families.

News 12 Staff

Mar 16, 2021, 10:43 PM

Updated 1,497 days ago

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Some New Jerseyans who remain unemployed because of the COVID-19 pandemic say that they are relying on the federal stimulus check for their families.
Terria Todd received her federal funds on Friday. She says that she happened to be out grocery shopping with her kids when she found out.
“I was in Walmart of all places,” she says. “Then I was at the register, and I was like, ‘Wait, what is this?”
Todd says that the $4,200 deposit couldn’t have come at a better time.
“Because I was trying to figure what we could do with the budget I had. I was trying to make it work. I saw that and I was like, ‘OK, I can make this work,'” she says.
Todd is a single mother of two. Her daughter Aileyah is 10 and her son Zayden is 6. She worked at Amazon until deciding to resign when School 8 in Linden shut down during the pandemic. She says that she had to be home to help with her children’s remote learning.
Todd is among the 85% of American households that will get a stimulus check, part of President Joe Biden’s American Rescue Plan. The plan includes $1,400 for single people. Families will benefit from Biden’s plan in another way. It increases the Child Tax Credit for one year.
Eligible families will receive $3,600 for each child under 6 and $3,000 for each child under 17.
Todd says that her stimulus check will be put toward groceries and car repairs.
“I’ve been trying to get it fixed for a while now,” she says. “It actually just takes the weight off my shoulder for a little bit. It’s hard being a single mom trying to figure out how to make ends meet.”
Many other people will see their stimulus checks come by Wednesday. The IRS has set up a website to help people track their payments.