Yesterday, Fran Savickis, a public relations specialist with the Social Security Administration came to present at the Belleville Co-op on recent changes and updates to Social Security. Mainly, she spoke about the website and encouraged members to create a “My Social Security” account in order to access their information instantly.
Many of the members were stand-off-ish about getting onto computers with this type of sensitive information but a few of them weren’t and it was the best turnout for an event that I’ve had so far.
While planning this event, Fran encouraged me to create an account and to encourage my co-workers to do so as well, as this is not solely for those receiving SS benefits. To create an account, you must be 18 years old (no problem there!), have your social security number, an address, and a valid email address. I’ve actually gone through the whole process of creating an email address with a member and then creating the account so that we could just get the award letter.
Through the SS portal, you can instantly print up award letters, though I’ve found that it does not always work with Explorer but more so with Firefox. Kind of a pain, but worth it when you need that award letter asap.
Fran was a good presenter and I think that while the majority of the attendees are not going to go right out and create accounts, but one or two may and that is a good thing. Prior to the event, some of the members tried to assist Fran with the setup and she became really edgy, like she wasn’t used to the whole customer service thing or working with seniors. A little strange since she works for the SSA, but she did do fabulous with speaking loudly, clearly, slowly, and providing lots of useful information.
You can contact her at frances.heimes.savickis@ssa.gov.
Cheers and happy workshopping!
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