RICHMOND, Va. -- Earl Barry finally feels hopeful after a grueling years-long battle trying to get disability benefits.
"When you're hopeless, when you're struggling to do this and everything is against it, it's very difficult to just keep going," Barry said.
But now he says, "I feel like I can keep fighting. I have a little more gumption to get up and go."
CBS 6 first reported on Barry's story last month.
He suffers from a heart condition that he said keeps him from being able to work.
So, he applied for disability through the Social Security Administration (SSA) first in 2021, then in 2022, and again in 2023.
All his claims were denied, and he didn't understand why.
WATCH: Virginia man has 'demoralizing' Social Security disability experience
Barry filed for a reconsideration request on the most recent denial but had been waiting several months for a decision.
“In the meantime, it's drained all my savings, and I literally sold furniture from my home, my household belongings, auctioned them off," Barry said.
As he waited on SSA, his Buckingham County home was foreclosed on, and he filed for bankruptcy to try and save his house.
While these challenges were unfolding, he saw a previous story from CBS 6 where we investigated Ed Heavener's case. The Henrico County man believed his claim was wrongfully denied, and after CBS 6 got involved, Heavener got approved for benefits after waiting a year and a half.
“I know I’m not the only one they’re doing this to, and something needs to be done about it because it’s not fair," Heavener said at the time.
Feeling like he was in the same boat, Barry reached out to CBS 6.
A couple of weeks after we aired his story, Barry received good news from SSA.
“The disability has been approved, and we're moving forward. I’ll start receiving benefits next month," Barry said, adding he'd also receive more than a years worth in backpay.
“How big of a deal is that?” reporter Tyler Layne asked.
“Huge. It’s everything," he answered. "If I hadn't gotten this, I would have nothing."
Once fearful he'd be forced to live in his car, Barry said this now means he won't be homeless.
“With receiving the disability benefits, I will now be able to keep the house," Barry told CBS 6. “Without your interest and involvement, this would not have happened. They would have just continued to ignore it. I absolutely feel that.”
But Barry isn't done using his voice.
He's committed to fixing what he believes to be a broken system.
“It’s just failing people, and it's failing people at a point when you don't have the resources to go out and advocate for yourself a lot of times," Barry said.
SSA Commissioner Martin O'Malley has acknowledged that the federal agency is facing a "customer service crisis" amid historic underfunding and understaffing.
On average, disability determination wait times, which differ by state, are now the longest ever in the history of the program.
Nationally, claimants are waiting about eight months for a decision on an initial claim, which O'Malley said in a performance review report is "far too long."
In 2023, SSA data showed local offices approved 29% of initial disability applications, a rate that has been steadily dropping from 36% since 2019.
Barry described the whole application process as confusing and complicated and that it was challenging trying to reach anyone with the state determination agency for assistance.
After all this time, he said he never learned what was wrong with his initial claims.
He believes there should be more resources available to those struggling to navigate the system.
“It's really badly designed and set up," Barry said.
Through sharing their stories, he and Heavener have now connected.
Together, they plan on advocating for change to lawmakers.
“If we can talk to somebody, if there's something that we can do to contribute back, if there's some way, some kind of advocacy that can be done, something to bring it to people's attention, I absolutely want to try to do that," Barry said.
CBS 6 is continuing to investigate SSA concerns.
We have pending information requests with the SSA and Virginia's Disability Determination Services.
We're still waiting for responses.
CBS 6 is committed to sharing community voices on this important topic. Email your thoughts to the CBS 6 Newsroom.
Watch Tyler Layne's reporting on CBS 6 and WTVR.com. Have something for Tyler to investigate? Email him.
