A Work Without Limits
Employment Network Success Story

I was 13 years old when I got my first job. I went to my elementary school’s office and requested a work permit; the woman there stamped a small yellow index card with something very official, and handed it over to me. It said I could work four hours a week, and I was ready for every minute. I walked to every store and restaurant in our town, and time after time, no one would hire me. It was very discouraging. I didn’t give up, though. I walked to the furthest edge of our town to Kentucky Fried Chicken and filled out another application. The owner, a wonderful man named Mr. Smith, took me very seriously, saw my potential, and offered me a job.

That began a very long career of many jobs, moves, and attempts. My career started off so promising; I had the world at my fingertips. However, due to a perfect storm of events, I found myself living in active addiction. I was at my lowest point, pregnant, with nowhere to go, and a lot of trauma to work through. I tried many times to find my way, and I needed help.

With determination and the assistance of my country (and the good people of the Social Security Administration (SSA)), I changed my story. I have added many successes, triumphs, and things to be grateful for.

Most recently, with help from the Work Without Limits Employment Network, I have now returned to the workforce after almost a decade of receiving Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits. I used these benefits to get the treatment I so desperately needed after a long battle with addiction and to get on my feet and become stable. I am proud to say that I am eight years sober and no longer taking the medication I needed to get here.

Before working with SSA’s “Ticket to Work” program, I feared losing my public health insurance and SSDI benefits. I was unsure how to transition from being an unemployed person with a disability to becoming gainfully employed and independent. I was assigned a very knowledgeable and helpful counselor from the Work Without Limits Employment Network who assisted me in assigning my Ticket to Work. She guided me through the steps necessary to report my new income correctly and acted as a liaison between me and SSA, helping me to step into this new phase of my life without experiencing a gap in coverage. During that time, I had been diagnosed with breast cancer and began undergoing treatment, so having health insurance literally saved my life. I was able to fully recover while being able to work and without the fear of being denied the care I needed.

The job that I was so fortunate to find, as my first step back into the workforce, utilized all my best skills and was tailor-fit for me. I have been incredibly successful and because of that, I was able to make a difference in other people's lives. I helped pay for surgery to save a recently widowed woman’s dog and paid off a car note for a good friend who was sick and needed that car to get to her medical appointments but was at risk of losing it. I could commit random acts of kindness because I was financially able to give back to the community that graciously gave me so much.

Because of the support from SSA and Work Without Limits, I am a fantastic mother today. I am a great partner and friend, a reliable employee, a taxpayer, and a productive member of society. I can help other women who are in need.

And because of what SSA and Work Without Limits gave me, I am alive today to tell my story.