♪♪

>> I was employed at the

Showboat Casino, Atlantic City.

I was there from March 9, 1987

to September 1, 2014.

I opened and closed the doors.

It was a lot of mixed emotions,

a lot of mixed feelings, a lot

of hugs, a lot of tears.

I still have some photographs

I have never gotten rid of, of

all of us together.

We were family.

>> I've been in the casino

industry for 34 years.

I never thought I'd be

unemployed.

>> Yeah, I got 27.

>> 27?

>> Yeah.

>> Yep, I've been doing it since

'78.

>> When the Revel closed, and I

found myself unemployed after

34 years in the casino industry,

I was depressed.

I sat on the couch for a couple

months.

I just didn't know what I was

going to do with my life.

I actually was on the computer

every day for five or six hours,

seeking employment, creating

different résumés, and I was

unable to find a position I

felt -- a full-time position

anywhere.

>> Emotionally, I probably

didn't show a lot.

Kept most of it inside.

But I spent many a sleepless

night tossing and turning,

trying to figure out what's

gonna happen next.

>> I applied for unemployment.

It's for 26 weeks only.

They don't have extensions any

longer.

>> The past year was, to start

with, six months of

unemployment, which ended in

March, which left me trying to

survive off of my retirement,

which I didn't want to use this

early.

And I'm still too young to get

Social Security.

>> Why are you here?

You're here because you are part

of a program called

Work First New Jersey, and this

is all about work.

It's about everyone getting off

of benefits permanently and

working.

So, you're one of the laid-off

workers.

>> Yes, I am.

I was working for the Revel.

I worked there from the day they

opened to the day they closed.

>> So, we have to work with you

35 hours a week, because your

TANF, which means you have

children that you're supporting.

>> I understand with the

government rules about the

35 hours a week if you're

receiving type of assistance,

but I have to take two buses to

get to the location.

And to me, sitting in a

classroom for 35 hours out of

the week is not resourceful for

me at all.

>> Okay, so, what are we doing

here?

What did they tell you?

>> We're gonna get me a job.

>> Well, we're gonna try, okay?

Obviously easier said than done.

Everything is geared towards

employment.

So, if you have interviews you

want to go to, job fairs you

want to go to, hiring events,

you're more than welcome to.

You may not, however, do that

consecutively.

So, as an example, if you did

that on Monday, Tuesday, you're

required to be here the day.

Your first goal is to earn all

of your credit.

Remain compliant with the

activity, with the system so

that you still have this

lifeline to hold onto.

>> If life had took a different

course, I wouldn't be here.

I was struck two different ways,

with the devastations of

Hurricane Sandy and the Revel

financially taking my resources

away.

I'm now forced to be dependent

on the Work First New Jersey

program.

>> My extended benefits have run

out.

We had savings.

We've used almost all of it.

>> No, I don't have any income

right now -- absolutely nothing.

If it wasn't for the food bank,

the community food bank, I don't

know what we would do.

>> You can have one box of

cereal out of the whole...

>> As a cement mason, as an

apprentice, I started off at

$17.25, and at my peak, I was

making $31.25 an hour.

Now I'm washing dishes for $8.44

an hour, part-time.

My last check for the week was

$126.

She's in a size 2 or 3.

I got the wife and the new baby.

Me and my wife would go to the

rescue mission before I step

back out on the corner and try

to sell some crack.

But, at the same time, just

knowing what you used to make...

I got, like, 20 applications

through all these casinos and

local businesses and stuff like

that.

It's just I got to get a shot.

Somebody got to give me a

chance.

Or else it's gonna keep being in

this poverty situation.

>> It used to be that I had a

garden for fun, and that's

changed now.

It's not a garden for fun.

It's a garden for subsistence.

I've had to give up my home

because I can't afford the

bills.

So, I am now living with my

girlfriend.

>> Right now we're trying to

negotiate with our mortgage

company, but it didn't really

have a lot of sympathy.

They want their money.

You signed a contract.

It's a bank.

>> 11 Sexton Drive,

Atlantic City, New Jersey.

>> I have a bid of $1,000.

Any additional bids?

Go to $1,000 going once.

Twice.

Sold.

Atlantic County is ranked number

one in the country for

foreclosures.

Every house, every property that

we sell at sheriff's sale,

that's the potential of a family

being uprooted from that home

and having to leave.

>> N.A. property post.

>> To have to put someone like

that out of their home is very

tough for our officers.

But that's something they have

to deal with every day.