Demora Henry sits on her black leather couch squished next to a pile a laundry while her two-year-old son, Darren, pulls down on anything within arms reach. On a large television screen, Maury Povitch yells, “You are not the father!”

Henry is done with her chores for the day—sweeping her small kitchen floor, wiping the tiny fingerprints and smudges off her walls, and never ending laundry, there is always laundry to be done. She’s sent out emails and faxed her resume to several prospective employers.

With nothing left to do, she sits and waits. Henry has been waiting since last December, and it’s starting to wear her down.

“It's been a difficult time,” she said. “I'm used to money. I'm used to coming home with $300 to $500 a week. I'm used to having two jobs it's really hard to live off of such a small income.”

What began as a hard month became a hard year for Henry. A neighborhood bully threatened her daughter, Erica. She was arrested after she attempted to break up a fight between them. She called the police, but they arrested her and later charged her with endangerment of children. Months later, her son complained that his teacher pushed him on the ground. And a few months later, Child Protection Services came by to evaluate her home's condition.

The recession’s impact hit families all across America. Company executives and sales associates alike are joining the highest rate of unemployment the United States has seen since the Great Depression. New York City in particular has seen its unemployment rate soar, especially in the poorest borough, the Bronx and the surrounding area.

Henry glances up at the wall of her small two-bedroom basement apartment lined with photos of her family. A window-sized portrait of her husband, Eric Warren, surrounded by his four grinning children, reminds Henry of a time when money was enough, and her family was together.

"I could rely on him," said Henry. "I've been crying a lot more these days." A week before she was fired from her job at the Scarsdale Medical Group, last December, Henry's husband was caught with a weapon while on parole and sentenced to three-and-a-half years in jail.

Henry knew she was getting fired when she was called to her bosses’ office. After a hectic holiday season, Henry felt like she was overwhelmed with work and couldn’t keep up. “The phones were ringing off the hook.”

“It was easier to blame me,” she said. “That Friday the office manager came in and said something like, ‘I’m not happy with your performance.’” Henry recalls never being late for work and never took a day off, despite her husband’s court appearances. “I couldn’t understand why she was unhappy with my performance.”

When she walked out of the office, she began to notice all the sympathetic faces of her coworkers. “I had an idea of what was going on when everyone was looking at my face for my expression. I knew what was going on then.”

Immediately Henry applied for unemployment benefits, and within 14 days she was getting her weekly check, but she continued to struggle.

“It’s just really hard to live on $139,” she said. “It’s no money.”

Henry lives in a housing project in Mount Vernon, a few minutes from north Bronx. Henry describes her area as sketchy, “but it’s comfortable and we are used to it.” She said that while she is living in a, "not-so-great" area, she is lucky to be in public housing because her rent is subsidized down to $200 per month.

"If I didn't have that, I don't know what I would do," she said.

As her situation worsens, her attempts to find a job are thwarted by what she calls a horrible streak of bad luck. After her arrest in early October, she was teased with a job offer. But after a background check, she never heard back from the employer’s offer. The charges appear on her background check, making finding a job in the healthcare industry almost impossible.

Henry is now trying to find a new school for her son Eric after he complained that his teacher pushed him. She has contacted a local student advocacy group. “But I just don’t have the time,” she said.

With a court case and child protection services added to her burden, Henry has found it difficult to apply for jobs with the same fervor as before. However, she is determined to further her career, and continues to look for new avenues that will enhance her chances of a stable full-time position.

“I’ve been posting on free websites, I’ve been calling and faxed off my resume to everyone,” said the 31-year-old. “I was even looking for internships as a last resort.”

But the scheduling restrictions on the mother of four limited her possibilities.

As the clock approaches 3 p.m. Henry begins to fidget in her seat. It’s her favorite time of the day. Her part time may only pay $13 an hour for her 10-hour work-week, but it offers a sense of normalcy in her life.

“I’ve never been unemployed so long,” she said.

Henry worked for seven years at Lord and Taylor's shoe department as a customer service representative. The hours were great, her pay was decent and her co-workers were delightful, but Henry wanted to branch out into the medical field.

"So I took an unpaid leave from Lord and Taylor's, to study and train as an E.M.T. I love working with people and helping people," she said.

The hours of an E.M.T took a toll on her back, and led to increased time away from her children. She eventually hopped from various home health care jobs to jobs as a secretary, to working with children with disabilities. Henry never seemed to find a job that worked for her hectic lifestyle.

Henry is able to secure $600 a month for food stamps, and enrolled her children in the free lunch program at school. She is currently on the second tier of her extended unemployment benefits, but says she is grateful for any help she can get.

With some help from her cousin, and loans from her mother, Henry counts her blessings. She relies on the support of family and friends to get through these difficult times, but still looks out for her ultimate goal of finding a full-time position.

"A job is a job," she said, "but I'm lucky to have friends and family to help."

By 3:30 p.m. her children are now walking to Safe Haven, a free after-school program at the Doles Center in Mount Vernon. Henry grabs her jacket and keys. As the holidays approach she begins to wonder how she will make her children’s Christmas something special.

“It's definitely going to affect their Christmas,” she said. "I tell them not to have certain expectations.”