My Mom is Losing Her Social Security Benefits
Donation protected
For those who don't know, this has been an incredibly hard year for my family: My dad brought COVID home in January, infecting our whole family, and, as a result, I ended up developing long COVID and haven't been able to work for almost a year now My dad would later die from a cardiac arrest a few months later (we suspect it was caused by complications from his COVID infection).
My mom's next SSI payment will not be until September 2024!
On top of that, when my mom applied to get my dad's social security benefits as his widow, Social Security claimed they have been overpaying her this entire time. First they said they overpaid her 3k, then 5k, and this latest letter said she owes them over $10,000 in overpayments!
Can you imagine the shock of thinking you'll be getting your husband's SSI benefits to help you survive as a widow, but instead you need to PAY social security bc all of a sudden, they claim they've been overpaying you for years?
This is all due to two highly unjust laws: the Government Pension Offset and the Windfall Elimination Provision. You can read more about them here if you'd like.
These laws are incredibly violent as they primarily affect low-wage earning widows who worked in public service. Our government is attempting to balance its books on the backs of its own employes who have been widowed, it's vile stuff. And my mom is right in the middle of it.
The worst part is, she followed all of their directions when applying for her SSI and they still found a way to screw her over.
We've submitted an overpayment waiver, since we literally cannot pay and this wasn't my mom's fault. I thought this would be an open and shut case for them since we clearly meet all the conditions for a waiver. We just got the response back from Social Security saying they are going to withhold my mom's SSI for the next 11 months instead:
My mom's next SSI payment will not be until September 2024!
I honestly don't know what to do. Before this year, we were a three income family: I had my small business income and my parents had their SSI. Now? We lost both of my parents' SSI income and I've been unable to work for a year now because I'm disabled with long COVID. My mom is also severely disabled and cannot work either. Both my mom and I have completely tapped out our bank accounts and have almost no cash left.
This is why I created this GoFundMe. My family needs financial help to get us through the next couple of months. My mom deserves so much better than being a widow abused by Social Security and political violence. I wish I had the funds to support her and to hire a lawyer, but unfortunately, I'm struggling to just keep our heads above water.
So I'm asking for you help. Help me to support my mom who fell through a massive hole in our social safety nets. Help me to support myself as I continue to recover from long COVID so I have time to get my business back online. And help us to hire a lawyer so we can fight to get my mom's SSI payments back.
I hate that I have to ask for help right now when I know so many other people are suffering, but I honestly don't know what else to do.
My family and I will be forever grateful with whatever help you can spare, even if it's just a kind word or sharing our story. Anything you can spare will mean so much to us.
And if you'd like to help get those horrible laws repealed, you can sign this petition here.
Organizer
Christopher Alvino
Organizer
Charleston, WV