Help Wanted: Stories of unemployment

More than two years after the end of the recession, 14 million Americans remain out of work. The “Help Wanted” project follows six unemployed people from across the country as they struggle to pay the bills, preserve relationships and hold onto hope for the future. The project seeks to show the true impact of joblessness — through the eyes of the unemployed.

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COLLEGE PARK, MD- AUGUST 10 : Thera Larson is currently employed but lives with a fiance who is not. She is blogging about her experiences for the Washington Post. Photos taken at the University of Maryland campus, which is near her workplace. (Photo by Michael Williamson/The Washington Post)

Michael S. Williamson / The Washington Post

Marc Johnson worked for the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee until January. The 36-year-old has been unemployed for five months.

Michael S. Williamson / The Washington Post

Marc Johnson, a 36-year-old former Hill staffer does some work as an administrative assistant at Shiloh Baptist Church in McLean where these photos were taken.

Michael S. Williamson / The Washington Post

Daniel Joyce thought his career in the financial industry was set. But then the recession came. Three years later, the San Jose man still has not found a job.

Courtesy of Daniel Joyce

Thera Larson has a job. But her fiance, a former union sheet metal worker, does not. He has been unemployed for a little more than a year. The situation has caused incredible stress for Larson, a 33-year-old from Bowie, Md., her fiance and their new daughter.

Courtesy of Thera Larson

Daniel Joyce, a 54-year-old from San Jose, poses with his daughter. Joyce has been unemployed for three years.

Courtesy of Daniel Joyce

Stephen Rhymer, a 59-year-old former public relations official from Edmond, Okla., doesn’t know if he will ever work again. His two-and-a-half year unemployment has strained relationships with former colleagues, friends and family.

Courtesy of Stephen Rhymer

Stephanie Dudgeon thought she had weathered the storm. But the 48-year-old former project manager from Columbus, Ohio, lost her job in February and has been unemployed since.

Courtesy of Stephanie Dudgeon

Marianne Steffey. a 32-year-old former journalist from Erwin, Tenn., lost her job six months ago. She has moved back in with her mother. "It kind of feels like I’m regressing instead of progressing," she said.

Courtesy of Marianne Steffey

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MANASSAS, VA - MAY 07: Daniel Tabarez, 1, top, helps his daughter, Maxx Tabarez, 1, walks as Milenka St. Clair, top right, a family support worker with Northern Virginia Family Service visits the family's home on Tuesday May 07, 2013 in Manassas, VA. Daniel and his family are part of the Healthy Families program. (Photo by Matt McClain/ The Washington Post)

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