My name is Joe Zesski, I am a 30-year-old and have received SSDI benefits as a result of my blindness.  When I was searching for a job two years ago, I had no working knowledge of the rules and regulations regarding people with disabilities and their capacity to retain their SSI or SSDI benefits while still working.  A vocational counselor at the NJ Commission for the Blind and Visually Impaired told me about the NJWINS program and gave me the phone number of Andrea Infante at the Epilepsy Foundation which administers the NJWINS program.  I called and received a host of valuable information.  Andrea told me about the amount of assets that one could have, how much I could earn each month given my particular disability and still retain my benefits, how long I could maintain benefits given certain parameters, and generally walked me through the demands of the program.  This information gave me a basis to know what to look for in job opportunities.  I knew what was in my best interest and how I could maximize my earning potential.  Eventually, I found a job at Resources for Independent Living with which I am exceptionally satisfied.  The services that I received from the program were most helpful in achieving this goal.  NJWINS is an indispensable program in allowing people with disabilities, such as myself, to be motivated to seek work in a competitive market that is only beginning to integrate people of all abilities.  Andrea Infante’s, and by extension the Epilepsy Foundation’s, patience, dedication, willingness to answer questions, and general openness are commendable in furthering the necessary program of NJWINS.

My name is Kirsten Spady. I am a 33-year-old Willingboro resident who received SSDI benefits after contracting Sarcoidosis (an overactive immune system) from Talc, Silica, and Aspergillus. Surgical complications caused me to lose my ability to walk and required further surgical procedures. I had recovered to the point of wanting to return to work. This is when I called a NJWINS Community Work Incentives Coordinator, who assisted me with information about my benefits and work. After receiving advice from NJWINS, I decided to consider employment. I found full-time employment as an on-site support representative. I am very happy and will have accumulated all of my Trial Work Months as of April 2003. I am now in my grace period and be completely off cash benefits by September of 2003. I was further informed that I will, of course, continue to retain my Medicare benefit and be eligible for Expedited Reinstatement for that same five year period, should my disability cause work cessation.

I highly recommend the NJWINS Program to anyone who would like to return to work, but is afraid to do so, due to fear of losing benefits. I have learned that it is possible to control the speed of transition from benefits to work. I have decided to take the fastest route and even that has allowed me to keep my check for 12 months and my healthcare for another 93 months. I will also be able to gain back my full benefit during those 93 months, should I need to. This is the safety net I needed in order to venture out on the tight rope of new employment. I am now successful, but should my disability cause me to lose my job again, I know that I will be able to regain my benefits. NJWINS has made all of this clear to me, so that I could launch myself toward independence, instead of hindering my progress by being confined by fear. The knowledge the NJWINS Program provides can set others free to pursue a life of independence as well. It my hope that my experience will encourage others to be emboldened towards independence, in essence, to take their lives back again, and once again be heard together with the voices of those with earning power.

My name is Rita Lomicky, I am a 50-year-old SSDI beneficiary and resident of Hazlet, in Monmouth County. While working as a career RN, I was paralyzed by a bad reaction to a spinal nerve block, which was administered to alleviate pain caused by a bone infection in my foot. The reaction paralyzed me from the neck down; but, through a host of rehabilitative measures, I have improved to a point where I feel work is possible again. However, I still have no feeling below my knees and elbows, experience bouts of balance loss, and have no proprioception, (the sense of where body parts are in time and space). These remaining disabilities disallow continuance of the physical duties of my former profession. I wondered if I could receive training to do desk work. I also wondered what would happen to my benefits, as I transitioned to work.

NJWINS staff assisted me by explaining the SSDI Work Incentives and informing me of the advantage of using available employment support services. Furthermore, NJWINS staff was able to make me aware of the existence of assistive technology, which would allow me to drive and work on the computer, despite disability. Today, I am planning to take a job in a Fitness Center as soon as I complete computer training, which the NJ Division of Vocational Rehabilitation Services is going to assist me in paying for, and as soon as I receive assistive technology designed to allow me to drive and the subsequent training required to use such equipment. To make my transition off benefits more gradual, I am planning to use an IRWE, which will allow Social Security to count less of my earnings, so I can keep my check until I am able to do without it. I was also made aware that my Medicare will continue for 5 years after I am no longer eligible for a check. This and the knowledge that I can regain my benefit check, should my disability cause work cessation, has given me the comfort I need in order to attempt work again.

NJWINS - Public Service Announcement Script

RECIPIENT #1: “Will I be able to work and also retain my benefits.”

ANNOUNCER: Here’s good news for SSDI and SSI recipients. You can keep your benefits while transitioning to work.

RECIPIENT #2: “I was working, became disabled.”

RECIPIENT #3: I received a kidney transplant.”

ANNOUNCER: Every case is different. You need good advice and New Jersey WINS can help.

RECIPIENT #2: “The specialist was very patient, very understanding.”

RECIPIENT #1: “Really diagrammed right there in black and white.
RECIPIENT #4: “My boss is happy.”

RECIPIENT #3: “I thank New Jersey WINS, cause they gave me my life back.