This month marks two years since I lost my full-time job. At the time, I’d been working as a communications professional for 15 years, and the loss was devastating. I was a single mother with almost nothing in savings and no safety net. My four-year long-distance relationship had also just ended, and I felt scared and alone.

The last time I’d lost a job, as part of a mass layoff in 2003, I waitressed until I could get back to full-time office work. Unfortunately, waitressing was no longer an option, because I now had back problems (degenerative disc disease, scoliosis and spinal stenosis) that made it impossible for me to stand for long periods. I looked into getting disability benefits, but I made too much money from unemployment benefits to qualify.