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THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE IN OUR ARE ARE GOING TO NEED THEM. BOB: WE FIRST TALKED TO KIM PATERSON ON MONDAY, WHO COULDN’T GET IN TO THE STATE’S CONNECT WEBSITE, THE ONLY PLACE WHERE PEOPLE CAN SIGN UP FOR UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS, AND NO ONE ANSWERED THE PHONE WHEN SH CALLED FOR HELP. I CHECKED BACK WITH HER TODAY. NOTHING HAS CHANGED. >> I GOT MY LAST PAYCHECK TODAY, SO IF I DON’T GET SET UP IN THE NEXT WEEK FOR UNEMPLOYMENT, TWO WEEKS FROM NOW, I’M NOT GOING TO BE ABLE TO BUY FOOD. BOB: THE VAST MAJORITY OF FLORIDIANS WHO ARE NOW OUT OF WORK ARE DEALING WITH THE SAME PROBLEM. YESTERDAY, THE GOVERNOR ORDERE THE DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY, WHICH RUNS THE ASSISTANCE PROGRAM, TO ALLOW PEOPLE TO FILL OUT PAPER APPLICATIONS. STATE SENATOR LINDA STEWART TELLS ME SHE PLANS TO HAVE THOSE PAPER APPLICATIONS AVAILABLE AT HER OFFICE ON BUMBY IN ORLANDO. THEY WILL BE IN A FOLDER OUTSIDE MY DOOR, AND THAT TO ME, WE ARE GOI TO OLD-FASHIONED PAPER, BUT SOMETIMES THAT WORKS THE BEST. BLAYOB: SHE SPOKE TO SOMEONE WHO SAID THEY WILL BE HELPING PEOPLE WHO HAVE BEEN BLOCKED OUT FOR WEEKS. TODAY WE WEN TO A CALL CENTER. NO ONE WOULD TALK TO US, BUT I SAW PEOPLE COMING IN FOR BUSINESS -- TRAINING. THIS IS PA OF TRYING TO BE EF UP STAFF. THIS IS THE MOST INSULTING THING I

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Because of all the issues with the state's unemployment website, the agency is accepting paper applications.That means thousands of people in Central Florida are going to need them.On Monday, WESH 2’s Bob Hazen spoke with Kim Paterson. Paterson couldn’t get into the state’s website, which is the only place where people can sign up for unemployment benefits. She said when she tried calling, no one answered the phone. On Friday, Paterson told us she received her last paycheck. “So if I don’t get set up in the next week for unemployment, two weeks from now, I’m not going to be able to buy food,” Paterson said.The vast majority of Floridians, who are now out of work, are dealing with the same problem.On Thursday, the governor ordered the Department of Economic Opportunity, which runs the assistance program, to allow people to fill out paper applications.Sen. Linda Stewart said she plans to have those paper applications available at her office on Bumby Street in Orlando.You can also download the paper form by clicking here.“They’ll be in a folder outside my door, and that, to me, we’re going to maybe old fashioned paper but sometimes that works the best,” Stewart said.Stewart spoke to DEO director Ken Lawson and said she’s working to make the payments retroactive for people who have been blocked out by the website, for weeks:Paterson said the state should have been ready a long time ago.“This is the most insulting thing I’ve ever experienced in my life,” Paterson said.