The You Can Work series continues to spotlight the achievements of job seekers with disabilities who found their path to a better future with help from Social Security’s Ticket to Work program. Our new Success Story features Lisa Seeley.
If you are a person with a disability, being able to work from home may offer a solution that could allow you to meet career and financial goals. Working from home is just one of many job accommodations that may provide the flexibility you need to enter the workforce. Through Social Security’s Ticket to Work program, you can get free career counseling and guidance on job accommodations. That’s what Lisa Seeley did when agoraphobia, a severe anxiety disorder, restricted her life and her ability to work.
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Social Security’s most recent Ticket to Work
success story celebrates Lisa’s recovery and the contribution that
employment has made to her well-being.
“Crowds and open spaces were very difficult for me
to handle,” she recalls. “... I had to move into a group home [because]
my mom and I didn’t know how to deal with my agoraphobia and panic
disorder. I was lucky to be able to receive Social Security disability
benefits, and …the treatments I needed to get healthy again.”
With treatment, Lisa learned to do simple things
that were not possible previously. As she recovered, she completed a
year of college in 2002. Her self-esteem grew and she was determined to
find work.
“I wanted to help people in situations like my own,” she recalls. “It
was overwhelming at first: battling anxiety disorder; worrying about
losing my benefits… I was very nervous about [working]. I knew my
disability would require [job] accommodations, and I felt concerned
about the anxiety interfering with long-term employment.”
Lisa knew she needed help understanding how work
would affect her Social Security disability benefits. She did some
research online and read about Social Security rules, known as “Work
Incentives.” Work Incentives make it easier for adults with
disabilities to enhance their job skills through education, training
and work experience. While preparing to find and sustain
employment, disability recipients like Lisa can still receive Medicaid
or Medicare coverage and some cash benefits from Social Security. Social
Security disability beneficiaries (age 18 through 64) are also eligible
to receive free employment support services through the Ticket to Work
program. Lisa decided to learn more about Ticket to Work and Work
Incentives by calling the Ticket to Work Help Line.
She found help from an authorized Ticket to Work
service provider known as an Employment Network (EN). Through the Ticket
program, ENs across the country help job-seekers with disabilities
prepare for the workforce, find employment, or advance in their current
position. Because she was concerned about whether her
condition would be compatible with working in an office environment or
commuting, Lisa wondered whether working from home would be an option.
Lisa’s EN, Employment Options, Inc. (EO), helped
her plan her future. She received career counseling and advice about job
accommodations. Together they developed an Individual Work Plan, and
decided her best option would be to work from home. Then something out
of the ordinary happened.
“Employment
Options, by chance, had an opening for a job counselor. When they
learned that I had related work experience and saw my qualifications,
they hired me!”
It is not common for an EN to hire the people they
serve. But Lisa’s EN had a need and recognized that she could fulfill
it. Lisa now works from home and offers counseling services over the
phone. Working from home accommodates Lisa’s disability, and offers her
the flexibility she needs as a mother. She is able to integrate work
with running her household and says she has found the perfect job.
Lisa credits employment and the help she received
through Ticket to Work with improvements in her life. She believes that
working has been essential to her recovery. She no longer relies on
Social Security benefits, and says that life is “wonderful.”
Lisa found her path to a better future. Find yours. Visit choosework.net for more inspiring stories, and learn how Social Security’s Ticket to Work program can help you.
To learn more about the Ticket to Work program, visit www.socialsecurity.gov/work, email us at support@chooseworkttw.net or call 1-866-968-7842 (V) or 1-866-833-2967 (TTY).
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