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Jessica Flores, EBS in Door County, helped a gentleman who was brought from the other side of the state and dropped off in Door County with a few bags of possessions and nowhere to go. Jessica worked with the I&A staff at her ADRC to get him find employment and a place to stay. She also helped get him all the benefits for which he qualified, and she helped him get set up with a new representative payee for his SSDI benefit. However, his SSDI benefit was reduced one month which left him without enough money to pay his rent. Jessica worked with the Veteran Outreach and Recovery Program and hosted the VA staff to come meet the client in her office. They were able to get him funding so he was not kicked out of his short-term residence. The VA was also able to help him move to one of their Housing & Recovery transitional houses where they will work to get him into HUD-VASH for stable ongoing housing, transportation to doctor appointments, meals, and recovery support (which they predicted would cost him $0). They will also work to get him a non-service-related pension so he will see a good increase to his income.
7/27/2023
Story #94
In July, Megan Girardy, EBS in Jackson County, met with a man who had recently entered into home hospice after surviving four years with stage four prostate cancer. They discussed the process of applying for disability benefits and began filing for early retirement benefits. The local SSA field office representative proved very helpful and began the process of filing for survivor benefits and designating the client's wife as representative payee for their two children. Megan helped the client complete a compassionate allowance request in August. At each visit along the way, they spent time discussing family, going through old photos, sharing hunting stories, and learning about his family's history. When the client passed away in late October, Megan was invited by the family to come to their home to assist with the notification process. After she arrived, his wife showed Megan that she had received notice that benefits were approved with a back payment award of more than $18,000, which the family later used to cover funeral expenses. Megan received a hand-written thank you note with the client's signature, an invitation to his celebration of life, and an open pass to his hunting cabin to continue sharing stories with his family.
Monetary Impact = $18,000
10/31/2022
Story #43
Tiffany Scully, EBS in Dane County, helped a client get almost two years' of Social Security backpay totaling over $22,000. The client receives a government pension based upon her own work and a government pension based upon her spouse's work, which was higher. SSA was counting the higher pension amount when calculating the government pension offset (GPO) but should have been using the pension based upon the client's own work. Tiffany helped the client file a request for reconsideration but had not heard back for over a year, despite numerous contacts with SSA. Tiffany finally decided to try the new SSA case escalation process and that worked to resolve the issue and get the client the back pay she was entitled to.
Monetary Impact = $22,000
9/30/2022
Story #31