QUESTA — One father of two is looking for a cheaper place for his family to live. Another couple is getting ready to collect wood so they can heat their home next winter, even if they can't afford electricity. Many have left town to get jobs in other mines, while others have returned to businesses they started before the molybdenum boom.

The people who got laid off from Chevron Mining's Questa mine tend to be resourceful. They're fighters, survivors. Still, uncertainty haunts them.

April 18 was the end of the benefits for most of the 227 workers who got laid off from the mine in mid-February.

Many signed up for unemployment insurance in February, so their claims — and payments — could be processed as soon as other benefits stopped. They'll only receive about half of what they earned in their best quarter out of the last five, for now.

But in July, as part of the federal economic stimulus package, that amount increases to 60 percent of their previous earnings — a measure that's good until 2011.

The average weekly paycheck in New Mexico, said Carrie Moritomo of the state Department of Workforce Solutions, is $213, plus an additional $25 a week federal additional compensation. That's still only about $1,000 a month — barely above the federal poverty line for a single person.

"It's the feeling of never knowing quite what's around the corner," said Jeannie Sullivan, wife of Jerry Sullivan, who was laid off after one year at the mine. "As soon as Jerry got laid off, 'Boom,' the well starts talking to me, not working; the ceiling tiles start saying, 'Watch me fly away in the high winds ... ' "

In some ways, the Sullivans are more fortunate than many in Questa. They do not have house or car payments to worry about.

But Jerry Sullivan, a journeyman auto painter, had already gone through the trauma of being laid off the year before he got his job at the mine. He was finally getting caught up financially when the boom lowered again.

Now, if he's lucky, he'll receive training for yet another career: A daunting prospect at age 59.

In the past, Chevron Mining — and precursor Molycorp — has offered training programs to its laid-off workers. It intends to do the same this time, through Trade Adjustment and Assistance funds — federal aid for workers whose jobs were casualties of foreign competition. But the company is waiting to apply to Trade Adjustment and Assistance until May 18, when many improvements kick in, including additional training and support; up to 26 weeks of cash payments for workers enrolled in training programs; and an increase in job search and relocation allowances, among other things.

After the company asks for aid, the government will ask for additional information, and then it has 30 days to decide if workers are eligible, said Chevron spokeswoman Margaret Lejuste.

Gone through it before

For now, many laid-off workers are making do until Trade Adjustment and Assistance funds come through. Questeño Rick Bailón has already figured out what he wants to study.

Bailón's from a mining family. When he got laid off in the 1980s, the company paid for him to get his contractor's license in plumbing and heating, and working with boilers — a special certification. Then it hired him back in that capacity — until February.

Now Bailón would like to study solar systems. He's heard of a wholesaler in Taos offering classes.

"Hopefully, I'll just keep working on my own business, and we're going to make it," Bailón said. "My wife works. She helps out a lot. The kids are all gone, married or in school. ... I mean I've gone through it before."

So has Marcello Vialpando, whose job as a maintenance supervisor for the mine ended March 31. Another worker from a mining family, Vialpando learned diesel repair back in the 1970s. He's wanting to get back into that, but he says there's not a lot of work going around.

Still, he's pretty financially stable, he said. Unlike many who used economic boom times to steep themselves in debt, he didn't.

"There's been so many layoffs at the mine that the older guys got used to that," Vialpando said. "I think the reality won't hit until midsummer. People are really going to start realizing there are not a lot of jobs going around."

Even some of those still at the mine fear for their future. Shane Smith, financial secretary for the union, said members of the skeleton crew that remains worry that they're just stockpiling molybdenum so they can be let go and the mine can run on a group of only about a dozen men. He's heard rumors that another 50 workers may be laid off in May — a threat Lejuste vehemently denies.

The spot price on a pound of molybdenum was $7.83 on April 9, down from a five-year high of nearly $40.

Paychecks cut in half

Smith said those who remain live under constant stress. Because there is no overtime, paychecks have been cut in half, and he is looking for a less expensive home for his family — including a baby and a toddler.

Because they've lost so many people, three people may do a job that previously took nine.

Other things have been cut back, too, Smith said. Workers have been told, for example, that they need to make their safety gloves last a lot longer before new ones will be issued.

While safety is potentially compromised, Smith said Chevron management has threatened that any injuries might result in a shutdown of the mine and loss of all jobs.

"It's always in the back of your mind," Smith said. "Nobody goes in saying 'I'm going to get hurt today' ... but if somebody gets injured, it's always the guy's fault."

Many people, he said, have gotten minor injuries that they might normally report but won't, now, because of the threat.

"They have these papers you're supposed to fill out about how is your state of mind," Smith said. "If you put down that you've got something on your mind and you get an injury, they'll say it was your fault because your mind is not clear."

Unemployment insurance payments should be starting soon. When the Sullivans called last week, they were told there was a backlog and payments may not come for a month.

The Department of Workforce Solutions said there was not a backlog but that four to six weeks is a normal waiting time for a large layoff.

Meanwhile, those without jobs are making do, strategizing, and dealing with a loss that is more than income.

For many, working at the mine was like being part of a family.

Jerry Sullivan has lived in Questa nearly two decades, but it wasn't until he worked at the mine that he really felt like a part of the community.

"It's more like a brotherhood," said Jeannie Sullivan. "Once he started working at that mine, we weren't outsiders anymore."

"Everybody looks out for everybody else," Jerry Sullivan added.

"When you spend so much time working with these guys, it's like a big family," said Bailón, who has been an insider for a long time. "It's hard on the community, hard on people. Hard on everybody."