$99,999 Payout to Homeless Woman Highlights Social Security's Struggles

Wanda Witter, 80, who up until last week was homeless and living on D.C.’s streets, has received $99,999 in Social Security retirement benefits, but she could be just one of many people owed cash because of the “tangled mess” at the Social Security Administration, according to the social worker who helped her.

“Wanda’s story has been told. But there are a lot of other people in Wanda’s position,” said Julie Turner, who works for the Downtown Cluster of Congregations, a nonprofit group that helps D.C.’s poor, low-income and homeless communities.

“When I first started this job, I actually had clients that died in shelters without ever receiving their benefits,” Turner said in an interview with ABC News. She said she has worked for the Downtown Cluster of Congregations since 1987.

Inaction by the government, she said, is “forcing another can of cat food on elderly people."

“You could write books on this thing,” she said.