Expanded state unemployment benefits may help this Seattle artist

Jenny May Peterson is a Seattle dancer, visual artist and a licensed massage therapist.

In normal times, she cobbles together enough money from these different vocations to support herself. But when the pandemic hit, Peterson’s revenue streams disappeared.

“I really have no income, at all,” Peterson said.

So when Washington state opened its expanded unemployment benefits website this past weekend, Peterson was one of the first people to try to apply.

“I’m waiting for the system to settle,” she says, after unsuccessful attempts to get through late Sunday night.

An alert on the website says they’re experiencing historically high traffic, but Peterson will keep trying. Other local artists she knows were able to get through to file their paperwork; she could be eligible for another $600 a week, which would go a long way right now.

In the meantime, Peterson’s looking outside her normal channels for extra income.

“I’ve been doing a little yard work for people,” she says. “They shout at me from their window. We have no physical contact.”

Peterson says working outdoors has been a form of therapy, particularly the physical aspects of gardening, although she says they can’t replace dancing.

Peterson hasn't been working on any art projects during Washington's stay-at-home order. She says she doesn’t have the heart for it right now. Instead, when she’s not weeding or mowing lawns for other people, you’ll find Peterson in her own South Seattle garden. She’s building raised beds from scrap lumber, and growing vegetables from seed for the very first time.

She’s grateful for the beautiful spring weather, and she tries to take each day as it comes. But like so many of us, Jenny May Peterson allows herself to dream about what she’ll do when health officials finally lift the gathering restrictions.

“I want to go to a live performance again,” she says. “I want to go dancing. I want to have a party in my backyard.”

Until that day comes, Peterson will celebrate something simpler: a successful unemployment benefits claim.