Eighty years ago today, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act into law. As a country, we all should be proud and supportive of what Social Security has accomplished.
Every year Social Security helps millions of people from being homeless. To many of the elderly, Social Security is their only income. Social Security allows children of deceased workers to receive money off their parent's account and also helps disabled workers and their families.
In celebration of all that SSA does, we would like to share with you the story of one of our clients. His name is Lester. Lester is 42 years old, married with four children and worked all his life as a truck driver. Lester was diagnosed as a diabetic in 2009. Lester promptly took his medications and went to his doctor regularly but he began to lose his vision due to his diabetes. Five eye surgeries later, Lester was legally blind. In addition to being legally blind, Lester developed Charcot Foot, had several toes amputated, Chronic Kidney Disease Stage IV and uncontrolled hypertension. Lester can barely see or walk, and when he does it is with the aid of crutches.
Lester was recently approved for Social Security Disability benefits. When I called to tell him that he had been approved, he was so very happy. His first thought was of being better able to take care of his family. Lester is not receiving thousands of dollars a month from Social Security, but the money he does receive makes a huge difference in the living conditions in his household. And he is extremely happy to have it!
Social Security is a vital lifeline to the American people. Without Social Security, people like Lester have no where to turn for help, when help is so desperately needed. So today, on SSA's 80th anniversary, we hope that you will join us in celebrating SSA's success!
Resources:
- http://www.ssa.gov/history/fdrsign.html
- https://www.disabilitylawfirmnc.com/charcot-foot-disability-benefits/
- https://www.disabilitylawfirmnc.com/kidney-disease-and-disability-benefits/
