by Tatiana Lyulkin
I became “vulnerable” very late in life, after my parents died in 2014 and in 2016, and I lost what was basically “their” apartment in Daly City in 2017. I’m not spoiled or lazy, just disabled. So with my parents gone, my Social Supplemental Income check is my only source of income. But last month I got a letter from the SSI telling me I was overpaid and I owe them $10,000 because my studio has a kitchen.
In the four years that I’ve had my studio I bought a bed, a blender, a cheap camera and a CD player. I still don’t have a TV, a computer, a printer or an iPad. All of my furniture is gifted and my dishes and appliances come from Goodwill. I have no savings account, no stocks and bonds, no life insurance, no car—not even a bicycle. What else am I supposed to NOT HAVE to be left alone? Why is having a kitchen more than I deserve? And how is it possible that a person in my situation owes the SSI $10,000 when I never ASKED it to increase my monthly allowance??? Somebody please make this make sense to me.
In 2021 my rent was $195; in 2023, it increased to $270. Maybe this is not exactly a huge trauma if you have multiple sources of income, however small they might be. But what if the SSI or the Social Security Disability Insurance monthly check is your ONLY source of income? How am I supposed to close that gap? “Oh, we don’t know. Somehow,” social services might suggest. “Get a roommate.” This nonsense is not a solution. It’s more like kindergarten.
I firmly believe that when it comes to the people like me who’re truly all alone in this world, our stable housing solutions should include housing. Even if it’s just a room with a communal kitchen and a shared bathroom, or working as a supervisor or a cook at a homeless shelter, a sober living house or a group home that also provides me with housing.
Nobody in their right mind wants their reality to include being homeless, addicted to meth, disabled or ending up totally alone. But it happens and for the SSI to blame its clients for the things that are clearly NOT their fault is not productive or helpful.
Housing that you can be priced out of is not permanent housing or even stable housing—it’s a glorified homeless shelter. It’s not a permanent solution to the housing crisis—at least not for us.
