CHICAGO (WLS) — The ABC7 I-Team is on the case of a local 18-year-old student who had no Social Security number.
Without it, he couldn’t work, open a bank account or plan for his future. Now, the I-Team is stepping in.
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For most people, getting a Social Security number is routine. It’s issued shortly after birth.
One south suburban teenager didn’t have one for nearly two decades, until he called the I-Team for help.
Tyler Brower, 18, said he couldn’t open a bank account or get a job a driver’s license, all because he didn’t have a Social Security number.
“It’s somewhat challenging. I feel somewhat excluded when my friends have jobs,” Brower expressed. “I was born at home, so when I was taken to the hospital, my birth wasn’t recorded.”
The man from Tinley Park, who recently finished high school, alongside his grandmother Janet Brower, sought assistance from the I-Team. They reported having repeatedly visited Social Security offices in the southern suburbs over the past two years.
“My grandma has been taking me there, and since then we’ve been going to the Social Security offices, yet we haven’t managed to obtain it,” Tyler Brower stated. “Each time we visit, they continually postpone it, telling us to wait for 30 or 90 days, providing us with a phone number and the like.”
Brower even received a letter in December confirming a recent application. It said, “You should have your card in about two weeks.” But that didn’t happen.
“Yeah, where’s my Social Security number?” Brower said.
Brower also couldn’t file for federal student aid for college, where he wants to study zoology.
“With endangered animals or deforestation,” he said.
His grandmother has been collecting necessary documents and helping every step of the way.
“It’s aggravating, but I still I’m going to go on until he gets it. I’m not going to stop,” Janet Brower told the I-Team. “He wants to get a job, and he can’t, and he gets depressed about it. So do I. And I just tell him, I says, ‘I’m not going to quit until we get your Social Security card.’ And then I was told about how you, you know, interview people. And I called and you came.”
After the I-Team contacted the Social Security Administration, they said, “Privacy laws preclude us from commenting on this case. We will contact Mr. Brower directly.”
“I feel like I need the Social Security card. I want one,” Tyler Brower said. “I feel like I, I have all the information for it. I have all the things for it. Like I’ve gone there multiple times to different places.”
Shortly after ABC7’s inquiry, Brower finally received his Social Security card and number, 18 years after he was born.
“I just wanted to thank Jason Knowles and the channel 7 I-Team for getting my Social Security card,” he said. “Thank you very much.”
Now with his number in hand, Brower plans to start building the future he’s waited so long to begin. He’s setting his sights on college and a career working with animals. He’s also applying for part-time jobs.
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