Greetings! My name is John, and I live in Sioux City, Iowa.

This fundraiser is for my son who was diagnosed when he was 12 years old originally with Hyperactive disorder. That sounds familiar, right? Every kid seems to have that in one form or another. This diagnosis was later changed to schizoaffective disorder which is a combination of Schizophrenia and Bi-Polar disorder. He functions as normally as you and me with the medications prescribed by his doctor but, since reaching working age, he has been receiving benefits from Social Security Disability (SSDI).

The rules were pretty clear. He could make up to a certain amount but not a penny more each month. If he went over, even a few cents, he would permanently lose his subsidy.

He always felt this held him down but the subsidy was too great for him to give it up. He feels that, had he not had the restrictions, he might not even be in this situation today.

Several years ago, we wanted to make sure he was still compliant with the requirements and we went together into the Social Security office to verify the maximum he was allowed to make. The agent that helped us said that the rules were not that he would lose it but rather, if he went over, his next month's SSDI payment would be reduced by the amount he went over. We asked multiple times to ensure the agent was correct, but she assured us she was correct. In spite of this, my son has been diligent in trying to make sure he still was not exceeding the monthly amount he was allowed to make.

This became very difficult when his employer assured him they were keeping him under his allowable limit, and he was not able to monitor it personally. However, he continued to do the best he could to keep it within his limits.

At the beginning of September of this year, (2025), he received a letter from SSDI dated August 31, 2025, stating that he was no longer eligible for SSDI subsidy as he had exceeded his allowable limit in 2021! In the letter, they stated he now has to pay back $68,636.10 for all the months they continued to pay him since the date he went over!

My first reaction was that it was unreasonable and unconscionable to come back to him with this after 4 years, even if their calculations were correct. Secondly, if an individual needs to be on SSDI, they are obviously incapable of generating the kind of income necessary to pay back that kind of overage, which was due to the agency's negligence in failing to notify him on a timely basis which, in my humble opinion, should not have been more than 30 days!

We have filed a request for a re-evaluation of his case and the Social Security representative we talked with felt it was in error also.

Many trying to help have suggested that he might be capable of working full time and earning much more, but he tells me he is exhausted just from the 20-25 hours a week he is currently working.

In the meantime, that was over a month ago and we still have heard nothing. We went back into Social Security and were informed that no decision has been made on his case due to the government shutdown and the representative could not give us any idea when to expect them to look at his case.

Social Security has stopped his SSDI subsidy payments and now he cannot pay his bills. He has always prided himself in his budgeting and has a near perfect credit score, which will be in serious jeopardy unless we can find a way to pay his bills, which is why I am requesting a Go Fund Me account. In the last few days, he received notice that his rent will go up $75 a month if he signs a lease or $175 a month if he goes month to month. In addition, he has a lease for the car he is driving, which would have been fine had he not encountered this issue with his SSDI. Those are the two primary bills this fundraiser will address. Of course, he has other bills and, if necessary, we will use funds from this account to pay those as well.

The funds will be directed into an account I will have earmarked exclusively for him, and I will pay those bills he cannot cover. When he was first put on SSDI, I became his Representative Payee, so I am qualified to help him through this and have proven integrity with funds designated for him. I have no desire to profit from helping him get some stability back in his life. I just want him to feel like he can live reasonably comfortably, especially through this horrible economy.

Because of the possibility he might not be able to recover his subsidy, this GoFundMe account may remain open indefinitely. It is my goal with this fundraiser, to help him maintain the lifestyle he has trusted he would have had he not lost his disability subsidy.

Thanks in advance for helping him through me. There are definitely flaws in the government's system, but I will have to hope the legislature will somehow, someday sort it out.