Social Security office closing bad news for local seniors
“I think this is going to be a real hardship for many of our seniors. — Joyce Beason
By SCOTT BAUGHMAN Ledger Staff Writer scottb@gaffneyledger.com

News that the Social Security Administration would be closing its office at Peachtree Center came as quite a blow to many at the Cherokee County Seniors Center.

“I think this is going to be a real hardship for many of our seniors,” said Joyce Beason, director of the center in Gaffney. “Transportation is going to be the real issue here. It is a problem for most of our seniors and while we do have some transportation available for this kind of thing, we don’t have much. Having to drive to Spartanburg for Social Security issues is really going to stretch us to the limit.”

Although alternative methods have been suggested for clients to receive the services they once sought in person at the Cherokee County office, Beason doesn’t see them as all that accessible.

“Most of the county’s seniors either don’t have a computer or don’t have the necessary skills with that technology for that to be a viable alternative,” she said. “And, again, we do have some computers at the senior centers that could be used for the Social Security services via the Internet, but not enough of them to really be useful. This is going to be an accessibility issue for about 9,000 seniors in this county.”

Telephone options aren’t much better, according to Beason.

“We’ve been trying to prepare our seniors by walking them through the processes over the phone,” she said. “And while we are limited with staff, we are willing to help in any way we can.”

One senior citizen who will have to alter her plans is Leemonda Humphries.

“I’m 61 years old now and almost ready to retire,” Humphries said. “I am on disability benefits. I had to go down to that office in Gaffney for my initial interview and now I have to go back periodically for more paper work and things like that. There were always a lot of people there, so you had to wait in line, but I’d rather do that than not have an office at all. I go down there frequently, and I wouldn’t want to have to drive all that way to the office in Spartanburg. I don’t see too well anymore and that’s a great distance for me. I would prefer that they leave the office in Gaffney open. I know they have to make budget cuts, but there are other ways you can cut costs. A lot of my friends wouldn’t be able to get to Spartanburg.”