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Real human widow’s experience with 47’s Social Security Office

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A Message from La Donna Crist
This is important. Please read it and share it with others. It might affect you or someone you care about.

This isn’t something I usually post, but I want to tell you what happened to me. It’s important for people to know.

When my husband passed away, I was told by the funeral director and the lawyer that I would get Social Security Survivor Benefits in about 9 to 12 weeks. But after almost 4 months, I still hadn’t received anything.

I called the Social Security office on March 14 and had to wait a long time—two hours! They called me back that night around 9 p.m. Here’s how the call went:

Agent: How can I help you?
Me: Did you get the notice that my husband died?
Agent: Yes, and his own benefit has stopped.
Me: Okay, thank you. But I haven’t heard anything about the survivor benefit for me.
Agent: You won’t hear anything unless you apply for it.
Me: What? I thought it was automatic.
Agent: Not anymore. You have to apply now. Also, I see a big gap in your work history.
Me: That’s because I was a stay-at-home mom for 14 years.
Agent: Didn’t you know you’d get less money because of that?
Me: I chose to stay home because it was best for our family.
Agent: What will you do with the money if you get it?
Me: I don’t know—buy groceries or pay bills?

Then she told me I still had to be approved. I was confused. My husband’s benefit was twice as much as mine.

She explained that the rules have changed. Now everyone has to apply and get approved before getting any survivor benefits.

I asked, “How are people supposed to know this?”
She said, “When they call to ask why they aren’t getting money.”

Then she told me I had an appointment on April 28 to actually apply. That’s five weeks later! I also needed to bring a bunch of documents: my husband’s death certificate, our marriage license, and proof we were still married when he died.

I was shocked. “We were married for 45 years! I took care of him full-time! What more proof do you need?”

She said she couldn’t tell me, and the next agent would explain everything. I asked if I could send in the documents early, and she said no. After that, I’d need to go in person. I also needed to get a new code in the mail to log in to my own online account.

Then she told me everything was backed up and taking a long time because of changes the government made.

That’s when I ended the call. I was tired and upset.

If you’re still reading, I hope this makes you feel upset too. People who just lost their husbands shouldn’t have to go through this. It’s not the Social Security workers’ fault—this is because of new government rules. I can get by without the money, but many people need it to buy food or medicine.

I can use a computer and go to an office if I need to. But not everyone can. It feels like these new steps were made to make people give up. But I won’t give up.

And one more thing: if anyone in your family needs to apply for Social Security disability benefits, it now takes 200–230 days before someone even looks at the application. Don’t believe me? Call 800-772-1213 and listen to the message.

Get angry.
—La Donna Crist

Why This Story Matters: What’s Really Going On

By someone who cares about our country (that means you, too)

You just read about what happened to La Donna Crist when her husband died. She was sad and tired, and instead of getting help like she expected, she had to jump through a lot of hoops just to ask for something she was promised.

But here’s the thing: La Donna’s story isn’t just about one person having a hard time. It’s a sign of something bigger and more serious going on.

Let’s talk about it.

America Is Strong When We Take Care of Each Other

In the past, America built some pretty amazing systems to help people. Things like:

  • Social Security – money to help people when they’re too old to work, or when their spouse dies, or when they’re sick and can’t work anymore.
  • Public schools – where kids can learn without having to pay money.
  • Firefighters and police – people who help in emergencies.
  • Libraries, parks, and clean water – things that make life better for everyone.

These things don’t just magically happen. They work well when we have smart, trained people running them, and enough money to keep them going.

But lately, things have been changing.

What’s the Problem?

Right now, the people in charge of our government have taken a lot of money away from these important programs. They’ve fired thousands of workers from places like the Social Security office. That means there are way fewer people trying to help, and way more people who need help.

Imagine a classroom with 30 students and only 1 teacher. It would be really hard for that teacher to help everyone, right? That’s kind of what’s happening now—but with grown-ups who are trying to get the help they need just to live.

In La Donna’s case, she had to wait months to even start the process of getting survivor benefits. She had to talk to several different people, collect a bunch of paperwork, and wait even longer for another appointment. All of that happened while she was still grieving her husband. That’s not fair—and it didn’t used to be this way.

Why Is This Happening?

The truth is, some leaders don’t want the government to help people. They want to make it so confusing and frustrating that people just give up.

This is what happens when people in power:

  • Cut funding to helpful programs
  • Fire workers who run those programs
  • Make rules harder so fewer people get help

When governments start acting like this, it’s called fascism. That’s when leaders try to control everything, take away help from regular people, and only care about staying in power. And if we’re not careful, it gets worse over time.

What Can We Do?

The good news? We can stop this. We are the people. And America is strong when we stick together and take care of each other.

We can:

  • Talk about it with friends and family (even at the dinner table)
  • Vote for leaders who protect our programs and care about fairness
  • Ask questions when something feels wrong
  • Stand up for people like La Donna and others who are being treated unfairly
  • Educate yourself, to understand what facism is and why it happens. Start with our Anti Facist Book Club

Remember: America is not great because we’re tough. We’re great because we care.

One Last Thing

If you’ve ever played a team sport, you know that everyone needs to do their part. When we let one part of the team fall apart, it hurts all of us.

Let’s be the kind of team that makes sure no one gets left behind.

Let’s make sure everyone can get the help they need when life gets hard.

Let’s protect what makes our country strong—each other.