ROCHESTER, N.Y. – A Rochester resident is asking “Where’s her money?” after her Social Security check was sent to the wrong place. Georgia Johnson lives at Hudson Ridge Tower, one of two apartment complexes where residents were told they had just 10 days to pack their belongings and leave.
“Then they came back and told me, told us, you got ten days to move,” Georgia Johnson said.
Left with few options, Johnson and her daughter Jannine packed up her one-bedroom apartment. They were fortunate to find an assisted living facility that Georgia really likes, but there’s a big problem.
“Where is her money,” Jannine Johnson asked.
Georgia was a resident in the Enriched Housing Program, which provides support services that enable elderly and disabled residents to live independently at Hudson Ridge and Danforth Towers. Participants had to sign over their Social Security benefits to the non-profit Family Service of Rochester. The charity was supposed to provide support services and pay the rent, but Family Service was $400,000 behind on the rent.
“If you haven’t been paying their rent since 2022 where did their money go?” Jannine questioned.
Family Service abruptly shut down the program last month at these two apartment complexes.
“We thought about it and, I said I don’t want them to be her payee,” Jannine said.
Georgia and her daughter went to the local Social Security office and filled out the paperwork to remove Family Service as the payee. However, Social Security mistakenly sent Georgia’s June check to the non-profit, telling Georgia she’d have to go to Family Service to get her money back. She did just that but received no response.
“But if the program is shut down, they shouldn’t have any access to their funds in the first place,” Jannine said.
News10NBC contacted Family Service and received this written response:
“If Family Service is a representative payee for a former resident, it can only release funds for rent when it has an invoice or written bill. If a former resident is living in a new facility or wishes to move to a facility, an invoice in that person’s name must be sent to Family Services.”
This indicates the non-profit is still getting residents’ Social Security benefits even though it shut down the program.
“It’s insane. It’s heartless. You know. It’s evil. It’s evil for you to take advantage of helpless people,” Jannine said.
Family Service told News10NBC in a statement that it’s taking direction from Social Security about how to handle the funds of residents. However, Social Security told Georgia she had to get her money back from Family Service.
After several emails, Family Service told News10NBC it’s working directly with Social Security to get Georgia her money.
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Consumer Investigation: Where’s her Money? Senior Fights to get her Social Security Benefits Back from Nonprofit WHEC.com.
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