She lived on the street, but she didn’t ask for money.
Posted November 1, 2023 by: Admin
Wanda Ritter, an 80-year-old woman, has a poignant and significant story to share.
For nearly 16 years, Wanda has been without a place to call home. She made persistent efforts to convince others that the government owed her a daily sum of $100,000. As she strolled down the streets with three bulging suitcases filled with documents and unpaid checks, people dismissed her as eccentric.
Ritter, who was a locksmith and a mother to four children, unabatedly demonstrated that the Social Security System had failed her for years on the bustling streets of Washington.
“I felt compelled to shed my luggage,” she admitted. “I reasoned that if I did something irrational, people would label me as crazy,” she elaborated.
One day, a 56-year-old social worker named Julie Turner overheard Ritter and realized that she might be onto something. Turner meticulously reviewed Wanda’s paperwork and confirmed that she needed financial assistance, not mental health intervention. According to Turner, she was indeed owed $100,000 by the government.
But how did Wanda come to terms with the situation?
Ritter began receiving monthly checks ranging from $300 to $900. She chose not to cash these checks, fearing that something might be amiss, and instead returned them. Ritter made inquiries with Social Security to rectify the discrepancies, stating, “If I had cashed them and later claimed an error, who would have believed me?”
Ritter informed local reporters that while she isn’t entirely certain, she believes the issue will be resolved once she gains proper control over it.
With the assistance of social worker Julie Turner, Ritter secured a $500 apartment.
Just a week after the news broke, Ritter received her first Social Security check, amounting to $1,644.
