Every year newspapers publish stories about people suffering from financial distress during the Christmas season and every year some of these stories are about individuals who have had or are having difficulty getting on Social Security disability benefits. Here are some excerpts from a recent story in the Buffalo News:Hardworking people who live from paycheck to paycheck face an enormous risk. If something happens that prevents them from working, the consequences can be devastating.
“You see everything you worked for disappear,” Kathleen Clark said. “You fall so far behind in your bills, you just hope they don’t cut the heat off to your house.”
Clark, 49, and her 45-year-old husband, Al, both worked for a living. He was a baker at the market on Niagara Falls Boulevard for many years. She worked in a restaurant. They have two sons, James, 22, and Patrick, 19. ...
Expenses were high; making ends meet was a tough, but they were coping. They even found a little extra to donate to local food pantries and community kitchens.
Then, in 1999, Al Clark collapsed on the job. Years of unexplained dizzy spells culminated in a massive epileptic seizure. Blow No. 1. He couldn’t work anymore. He applied for Social Security disability. It would take five years before Al Clark received his first disability check. ...
With the costly medication her husband needed to treat his illness, expenses were higher than before and making ends meet was tougher. Now, they were barely coping.
In 2004, Kathleen Clark’s chronic bad back finally gave out and she was diagnosed with a herniated disk. Blow No. 2. She had to give up her job. ...
An operation earlier this year stabilized Kathleen Clark’s spine but left her in excruciating pain, which seven different prescription pills a day fail to ease. She applied for Social Security disability. But, as her husband’s found, it could take years before she receives any payments.
Their son, Patrick, is a senior at Niagara Falls High School. James works in shipping and receiving at a City of Tonawanda sporting goods store, but he’s barely getting by and can’t help with his parents’ bills. The Clarks are overdue on several bills, including more than $200 on the water bill. Monthly expenses run about $1,300. They’re trying to get by on the husband’s $760-a-month disability payment. ...
Thanksgiving and Christmas food baskets from Niagara Community Action’s food pantry on 19th Street will help them through the holiday season.
If SSA wants to even make a dent in the backlog, it needs to fill every open position in every office. There are positions at the ALJ level going unfilled after people leave or retire. Their salary is in the budget- use it. You have the space, you paid for expensive video conference equipment, use it and hear some of the oldest cases from around the country. It certainly would be more cost effective than setting up new space in Falls Church!
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