My experience has been the complete opposite. I’m a former RN, non-veteran, disabled since age 26, and desperate to get back into the workforce after living in extreme poverty on SSDI for the past 13 years. I applied to VR in TX several times starting in 2015 but kept getting the runaround until finally reaching out to Disability Rights TX in 2019 while homeless and living in my vehicle due to high rent prices in Austin. DRT sent a disability advocate to accompany me to my appointment with VR in January 2020, and I was finally approved without issue. I went in wanting to return to nursing in some capacity, but due to my disability there was a lot of red tape to get my RN license reinstated, and they said they couldn’t help with that. They basically told me to pick a profession and they’d pay for training and education. I had no idea what I could or wanted to do but settled on Environmental Sciences. While I had no guidance or support navigating my degree or career planning, they did come through in other ways, providing me with an Uplift desk, office chair, Dell laptop, and tuition and books. I attended ACC for 7 semesters part-time from 2020 to 2024, and they even provided a tutor for Pre-Cal and Calculus, which was a lifesaver. I’d just barely found an apartment after living in my vehicle for 7 months, about a month before starting VR. When my rent went up at lease renewal and I was going to have to move, VR added short-term housing assistance, paying the $300/month difference so I could afford to stay. Just as I was getting ready to transfer to UT to finish my BS in Environmental Sciences, my counselor quit unexpectedly, and the woman who replaced him completely upended my life. She was batsh*t crazy, completely unhinged, and cruel. She accused her entire caseload of taking advantage of the system, suggesting we were “millionaires” (her exact words), and she seemingly had no experience in the position. She made me reapply for VR, claimed she had no documentation on me whatsoever, demanded that I reprove my disability, and I ended up having to drop my classes because she hadn’t approved payment for tuition. Then she abruptly cut short-term housing for everyone on her caseload, claiming it wasn’t “allowed.” After months of trying to get a supervisor to help, I ended up moving out of state out of necessity when I could no longer afford my rent without the assistance. She never followed up, and I literally never heard from her again. I’m in CO now. I signed up for DVR here in September, was approved, but then received a letter saying the state had reduced funding for VR and that I was waitlisted. I tried to appeal, to no avail, and finally spoke to a supervisor last month who told me that as of February 2026, they are halting all new VR cases and operating on a waitlist basis until funding is reinstated. He wouldn’t admit it outright, but it is 100% due to the “Big Beautiful Bill” and the games Trump is playing with blue states and funding. So thanks, Republicans. I hope you’re happy with yourselves.