New Jersey residents and workers are wondering how long checks they desperately need will be held up by the shutdown.
A state department of health worker from Burlington County wanted to buy a new grill Sunday so she could have a cookout with her family. Unsure of when her next paycheck may arrive, she decided against it.
A state parks employee was ready for work at 6:30 a.m. eager to welcome crowds of people to swim on such a beautiful day. Then came the text that the park, like dozens of others in the state, was closed due to the state government shutdown.
An Ocean County woman is getting hit twice -- her temporary disability claim is at a standstill and she won't be receiving her regular adoptive parent check because state workers won't be there to process them.
"I understand people are frustrated that parks and beaches are closed," said Tracie Rummell, of Brick, who is recovering from ear surgery. "But the bigger picture, for me anyway, it's not a day at the beach I'm giving up."
PHOTOS: Christie, family soak up sun on N.J. beach he closed to public
Gov. Chris Christie ordered the shutdown at midnight Friday, following a state budget stalemate with Democrats in the New Jersey Legislature.
Rummell is out of work, as a soccer instructor for 2 to 8-year-old children, following surgery June 20. She relies on her pay checks to not only pay her own bills but for college tuition and a Philadelphia apartment for one son and expenses for her high school-age adopted son.
She checked on Friday to see if her temporary disability claim filed June 19 had been processed and it had not. "I feel trapped,' the 48-year-old said. "It's frustrating."
Payments from the state for her adoptive son are also on hold. That money she puts in a college fund for him, but other adoptive parents she knows rely on the checks to feed and clothe adoptive and foster kids.
Families with newly placed children won't be able to apply for insurance for them. And visitations that rely on state workers to transport the children to see their birth parents won't happen during the shutdown. "These kids don't deserve to have anything taken away," Rummell said.
Jason Kemple, of Phillipsburg, feels cheated too by the shutdown. The 35-year-old lives paycheck to paycheck as an office manager at Spruce Run Recreation Area in Clinton, where 9 permanent and 35 seasonal employees are furloughed.
Cars would've been lined up to the main road by 7 a.m. and the park would've likely reached capacity by 11 a.m. on such a beautiful Sunday, he said.
"Sundays are our busiest day," Kemple said. "Many of our visitors work six days a week and only have Sundays to spend with their family."
He said he'd like to ask Christie "to please not punish state workers who are ready and willing and able to work by not paying them."
The shutdown, he said, would hurt a lot of working class people.
"We choose these jobs because we love what do," said Kemple, who hasn't had a raise in two years. "We love interacting with citizens who come for entertainment and recreation. Even for us, it's devastating to close on such important weekend."
A woman who would only identify herself as D.L., a state health department worker, said she too can't tolerate one day without pay.
"Most state workers live paycheck to paycheck," she said. "Sometimes that two week interval between checks, you fall behind."
"If I don't pay my rent, I get evicted," she said. "If I don't pay my car payment, it gets repossessed."
Leaders from the state employee unions did not return calls Sunday for comment. But on the website for the Communication Workers of America New Jersey there was an alert telling members about a telephone town hall scheduled for 11 a.m. Monday if the shutdown continues.
Allison Pries may be reached at apries@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @AllisonPries. Find NJ.com on Facebook.