1. United States
2. Ga.
3. Letter

I'm a constituent living in your Congressional District. Today, I'm writing to you on how I'm currently affected in regards to the system that's failing people with disabilities like myself. As a person with a disability that receives Social Security, specifically Supplemental Security Income (SSI), I'd like to see reforms to this system. Currently, for people with disabilities, if they save up money, such as for a vacation or for emergencies, they risk losing their SSI benefits due to them having a lot of money. Also, if they start working, their SSI gets cut. How are we suppose to live off with limited amount of money from Social Security? People with disabilities deserve to live normally and receive SSI at an amount that's livable to them, especially if they have to pay rent, buy groceries that's going up due to this administration, etc. For me, I literally had to use a credit card to keep me afloat, such as having to take Uber or Lyft due to the lack of accessible, affordable, and reliable public transit services in my area just to get to and from my old job sometimes. My credit card even pays my other bills, such as my phone and my Internet just in case if I unexpectedly had to work from home. These outdated limits for Social Security is causing me and other people with disabilities to use credit cards to go into thousands of dollars in debt, especially when they're suddenly unemployed. Also, I had to rely on Buy Now, Pay Later Services just to be normal, such as ordering food delivery now and then and other services that I really need and want badly. This isn't a moral failure. This is a system failure. If I had lots of funds in a savings account that I set aside from a paycheck at a job like everyone else who'd like to save up for something big, such as a needed vacation away from my area in another city or something that'll help me be more independent, I wouldn't be in debt today, and not receive calls, texts, and even mail from debt collectors asking me to pay up. While there's a program out there called ABLE, in which you can only use it to save up to $100,000 freely with having SSI suspended and to spend on your needs, not your wants. We need to update the labor laws that'll protect people with disabilities and others from unexpected layoffs. Last year, I was unexpectedly laid off due to funding cuts. I used to work at a nonprofit organization that's contracted by the Georgia Vocational Rehabilitation Agency. The funding for GVRA was unexpectedly cut, and also the restructuring of GVRA caused me and other staff from the nonprofit organization to get laid off. People with disabilities deserve protections, such as having employers to give us two (2) weeks notice before being laid off. That way, people with disabilities will have time to apply for another job so they'll immediately start working at the new job location once they're terminated from the old job. Also, this will give time for Social Security to update their records so they can still receive payments. Also, people with disabilities like myself deserve an equal wage that we can live comfortably. Currently, Georgia is an at-will employment state, meaning that employers can terminate someone with or without cause with no warning at all. I'd like to have protections where my future job is secure. Honestly, I'm in the process of starting up my own business because it's hard to find employment in my area that's located in Byron, Georgia that's best for me. I don't want to commute to Macon, across town in Warner Robins, or Perry, for example, in order to work and unexpectedly get laid off again in the future with or without warning. It's not just me that's struggling. My family and other constituents is struggling to afford things, such as groceries and the unexpected bills that's popping up out of nowhere. Other constituents literally have to dig into their savings accounts just to pay their bills because everything is going up due to this administrations tariffs. We need to do something that'll allow people with disabilities like myself to save more freely without the penalty of going into debt and losing benefits, such as SSDI/SSI benefits. I'd appreciate a call from your staff so I can clarify and tell you my story about what I'm going through. I'm looking forward to speaking to you soon.