By Jay Blackman
NBC News producer

In a nondescript office park in Rockland, Mass., the unemployed can find an oasis. It’s the home of a nonprofit called One Life at a Time, an organization that helps those looking for jobs, but in a different way than the state office of unemployment.  

"We basically do one-on-one, and what that means is that everybody is an individual," said founder Christine Driscoll O’Neill. "Whatever their needs are… whatever they need to get to that place to be able to be employable again – we do."

Driscoll O’Neill believes the one-on-one attention that she and her staff are able to provide free of charge is what makes the difference for her clients.  

O'Neill, who started the organization with the proceeds from a whistleblower lawsuit and hopes to continue supporting it through grants, understands her clients’ pain firsthand.

"I know what it's like to feel unemployed, I didn't like it," she said. "There wasn't anybody there for me, so I want to be there for all the underemployed and unemployed." The organization has two offices in Massachusetts, but it has helped many people who live out of state, too, by phone and by Skype.

With a staff of 12, One Life at a Time offers many regular career services, such as resume polishing and help with cover letters, but it doesn’t stop there. In a conference room with a wall of windows, a makeup artist offers advice on what colors to wear to interviews while applying eye liner on Diane, who is out of work for the first time in her career.

"It's about feeling good about yourself," the makeup artist tells Diane. "Just be yourself. Obviously you want to show some confidence. You know that you're able to do the job, and I think that will go a long way."

Surrounded by an unemployed teacher, a laid-off senior accountant and a nurse struggling to find work, Driscoll O’Neill holds a group discussion about the importance of self-esteem.

In another office, career specialist Russell Abbatiello sets up a small video camera in preparation for a mock interview, which puts clients through the process before they have to do it for real. The interviews are recorded to show people how they performed and what they need to work on.  

Abbatiello is now working with a chemist who has been out of work for more than a year. Not only is he testing her interview skills, but he is also drilling her on everything from how she would deal with an ethical issue to what her advanced degrees would mean to an employer. When the interview is over, they watch the video together, analyzing her performance.

"It's not always the answers that you give," Abbatiello tells the chemist, "it's how you give the answers."

For Ted Burns, 53, and a 20-year veteran in the telecommunications industry, the past year has been challenging. With one child in college and another in high school, he is looking for any edge that will get him back into the workforce.

"I'm  trying to stay as positive as I can, put a smile on and, I know eventually something will come," Burns said. "It's tough, it's a battle, it's a struggle and you just try to stay as positive as you can."

Burns taps on a keyboard in the organization’s computer lab, where classes are offered to help clients leverage the networking power of social media sites such as Twitter and LinkedIn. Burns already has used LinkedIn to make several connections. (UPDATE: Just this week, with One Life's help, Burns started a new job in his field.)

Driscoll ONeill says the organization has helped 5,000 people find work, including people such as Jen Guisti, who was laid off from her job as a television producer. Guisti was surprised at how hard it was to find another job.  

"I  heard it was hard but I didn't think it was going to be like this," she said. "I didn't think I was going to be out of work for so long."

Guisti says she struggled going the traditional route through the state offices, and found she needed the one-on-one attention that One Life at a Time provides.

"They were able to help me see things in a different light, and have me go down different paths, and kind of test my skills and test myself," she said. Guisti is now back at work at MK3 Creative, working on corporate videos.

Even with success stories such as Guisti’s, Driscoll O’Neill knows there is more work to do. To her, the country’s 8.6 percent unemployment rate isn't just a number; it represents millions and millions of people.

Mark Potter / NBC News

Juan and Gina Montes from Miami discuss how difficult their financial situation has been since Juan has been out of work for three years.

By Mark Potter, NBC News Correspondent  

MIAMI – In a well-kept home along a quiet street, Juan Montes practices his guitar and hopes it will bring temporary respite from the worries, shame and financial pressures of long-term unemployment in America.

For nearly 30 years, Montes worked in construction to support his family. After he was laid off from U.S. Steel in Ohio in 1983, he became a wallpaper installer. He then moved to South Florida in 1991 and eventually got a general contractor’s license. He did remodeling jobs, home additions, office construction and build-outs of medical facilities. Then three years ago, as the United States fell into recession, the bottom fell out of the construction industry and the 57-year-old hasn't been able to find work since.

Without work, Montes and his wife have run out of money. Her part-time job as an assistant administrator for a retirement fund doesn't cover expenses and provides no insurance. The family faces tens of thousands of dollars in medical bills, and this once proud provider is now feeling very low emotionally. 

"It makes you feel like less of a man," Montes said. "When you've done everything for yourself all your life and it's not there anymore, that security, it's a bad feeling."

Worst of all, Montes recently had to ask his grown son for help in paying his utility bill. "I'm not supposed to be asking my son for help. I'm supposed to be helping him."

Upset with Washington
Montes' wife, Gina, is frustrated with the endless bickering among politicians and the lack of progress in Washington toward improving the economy and adding jobs. She wishes members of Congress would stand in her shoes for a while and feel what it’s like to have to struggle to make ends meet.

"We've been begging and borrowing and humiliating ourselves. Let them see how that feels, let them know that it's not good," she said.

When asked how she believes elected representatives would feel if they actually did walk in her shoes, she replied, "They wouldn't feel very good right now. They would not. They would feel like something has to be done."

Her husband believes Congress is "oblivious" to the emotional and financial suffering of the unemployed. "I don't sleep, I sleep an hour here, I sleep an hour there. I walk the house, what am I going to do?" Montes said.

He agrees with his wife that politicians need to reach agreement on how to create jobs. "They've just got to stop fighting with each other. We're supposed to be all Americans!"

‘I don't know how I'm going to make it’
Michael McGowan from Farmington Hills, near Detroit, has been teaching music at elementary and middle schools for 17 years, but is now looking for work. He recently received a notice by mail that he will be laid off.

"I was very, very shocked. You wouldn't think that having a job for 17 years that you'd be looking at something like this." The 43-year-old father of two children, including a daughter approaching college age, is now deeply concerned about his future. 

"I don't know how I'm going to make it. I don't know how I'm going to make my mortgage, how I'm going to make all those bills." 

He has told his kids that everything will be fine, but isn't certain about how they really feel about it. "I don't know if they understand," he said. "Sure they know what's happening, but I don't think the actual ramifications have set in yet."

Crowded jobs fair
In Southaven, Miss., more than 800 miles from the gridlock on Capitol Hill, an employment fair this week drew more than 2,500 people seeking the approximately 500 jobs being offered by local employers.

Among the many faces in the long lines was that of Glyn Jenkins, who had lost her job at a mental health facility. "You just don't know which way to turn and it's hard to get support, because there are so many people out there in the same boat."

Charles Kimler, who is in his 50s, came to the job fair wearing a suit, hoping to find work after losing his job of 30 years in the service industry. His girlfriend helps him as much as she can, but Kimler said he still can't pay all his bills now. 

Mark Potter / NBC News

Glyn Jenkins, who lost her job at a mental facility, recently visited a job fair, along with 2,500 other people, in Southhaven, Miss.

"I'm basically broke," he said. "I don't sleep at night, you know, it's just a constant strain on my emotions and my psyche and everything else."

Another job seeker, Patricia Allen, used to own a small house cleaning business until it folded during the economic downturn. She is frustrated by going on job interviews but never getting a call back. And she is angry with America's political leaders. 

"They are out of touch in Washington, they're definitely out of touch," she said. "When election time comes they talk about what they're going to do, and when you put them in office they don't live up to their words."