How Deanna Did It

Deanna went from living on Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Minnesota Supplemental Aid (MSA) to getting a job and having a higher income. Then, she learned that a Plan to Achieve Self-Support (PASS) could help her save up some money so that she could meet her long-term goal of getting a better job, which would eventually enable her to buy her own home. Thanks to Medical Assistance (MA), her medical expenses were covered the entire time.

To improve her life situation, Deanna:

• Read about disability benefits on DB101
• Used DB101’s Chat with a Hub expert feature to get help from a real person over the phone
• Applied for benefits at her local Social Security office and local county or tribal human services office and got SSI, MSA, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), and MA
• Enrolled in the Ticket to Work program
• Got employment services from a Ticket to Work Employment Network, Vocational Rehabilitation Services
• Learned about a part-time job possibility
• Used DB101’s Benefits and Work Estimator to get an idea of how the new job could impact her benefits
• Got help from a benefits expert to make sure that with her job she would have more income than before and would not lose her health coverage
• Accepted the job and reported her new income to her local Social Security office and local county or tribal human services office
• Started saving up money and thinking about long-term goals
• Learned that a Plan to Achieve Self-Support (PASS) could help her save up money for a work-related goal without losing her SSI, MSA, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), or MA benefits
• Contacted the PASS Cadre to create her PASS and apply for approval from the Social Security Administration (SSA)

Once SSA approved her PASS application, Deanna started working on her master’s degree. Today Deanna is well on her way to completing it.