GESMN’s disability service ‘Work Incentives Connection’ celebrates 25 years

July 26, 1990, marks the anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) which provides protections to people with disabilities. Goodwill-Easter Seals Minnesota (GESMN) strives to help everyone experience the power of work, and over 70% of the people GESMN serves annually have one or more disabilities.

GESMN’s Work Incentives Connection (The Connection) program, celebrating 25 years of service this year, helps people receiving disability benefits understand how these may be impacted when they are working.

“Anyone in Minnesota with Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) or Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits can contact us with questions,” explained Jen, a community work incentives coordinator. “We are a one-stop resource for taking questions not only about SSDI and SSI, but also on Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Medicare, Medicaid, Minnesota Supplemental Aid (MSA), Housing, and Veteran’s benefits”.

The Connection’s primary service is a personalized benefits analysis, which provides a custom report showing how employment would impact an individual’s disability benefits and that with employment they would be money ahead and, in most cases, able to keep their current healthcare. The report also details work reporting rules, work incentives and other safety nets for an individual’s current benefits. Having this information often helps take the fear out of moving forward with employment goals. The result can be an overall increase in financial stability.

“Reporting responsibilities can be daunting as well, and benefit providers may not always be able to change benefits quickly which can result in overpayments,” Jen added.

The Connection also offers free SSI and SSDI downloadable wage tracking calendar calculators here that can assist with reporting earnings to Social Security.

People with disabilities often face barriers when they try to secure employment. Jen said the most common barriers she sees include discrimination about their abilities, as not all disabilities are visible like Curtis’s journey to finding employment after a brain tumor.

Another common barrier is the lack of transportation to get to a job. Anissa relied on her accessible van to get to work. When it quit working, GESMN helped her with resources to get her van fixed.

The Connection is here to help ensure everyone can succeed in their career goals. Learn more.

Get Disability Support with Workforce Incentives Connection:

• Call 651-632-5113 Hotline

• Text JOBS to 71493
• Email workincentivesconnection@gesmn.org