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Stephanie Rogers is among the approximately 750,000 federal workers affected by the U.S. government shutdown

She says that she had to take out money from her retirement fund to cover expenses for herself and her two daughters

Rogers tells PEOPLE that the shutdown has taken a toll on her children, who know "mommy is not okay"

As the U.S. government shutdown has entered its third straight day on Friday, Oct, 3, the standstill in Congress has left Stephanie Rogers, a microbiologist for the Food and Drug Administration and a single mother of two daughters, feeling scared and unable to sleep at night.

"My poor children are also stressed out,” Rogers, 44, of Littleton, Colo., tells PEOPLE. “As much as I try to shield them from what is happening, they're aware that mommy is no

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