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Navigating the Social Security Disability Application Process

Posted February 1st, 2005

The difficulty in qualifying for Social Security Disability has been described as a catch-22:

If you can make it through the application process, you’re probably not disabled enough to qualify for the benefit; and, if you’re disabled enough to qualify for the benefit, the application process is too difficult to navigate.

Community Resource Connections (formerly Bemidji Area Council of Nonprofits) in partnership with the Red Lake Housing Authority and the Leech Lake Tribal Referral recently took on the challenge of locating and assisting persons experiencing long-term homelessness in applying for Social Security Disability.

Funded by the federal Homeless Outreach Project and Evaluation (HOPE) grant, (one of 41 projects given nationally–two of which are in Minnesota), through the Social Security Administration, the project partners are able to help individuals who are homeless or precariously housed and who have disabilities through the application process for SSI and RSDI. This includes assisting with paperwork, following through to make sure the clients make it to appointments, and in general, helping them with barriers to getting the application process completed. The goal is for each partner agency to help 20 individuals with their applications during the first year.

While advocating for individuals who have very basic needs is challenging, perhaps the most difficult part of the project is conveying to the individuals and the community the ultimate connections between the issues of poverty, the lack of resources, and the tremendous need for decent, affordable housing throughout the region. It calls for planning and collaboration between agencies on issues of homelessness, and for partnerships between groups at the local, state, and national level that can work together to eradicate homelessness.

For more information:

  • Beth Warrick at Community Resource Connections, (218) 333-8260
  • Char Roberts at Red Lake Housing Authority, (218) 679-3368
  • Lois White at Leech Lake Tribal Referral, (218) 335-3626
This article was published in the February 2005 issue of The Homeless Report, and it was written by Liz Kuoppala. Please contact the Coalition if you would like any additional information about this article, or if you have suggestions for future newsletter articles.