Vikki Perpinan Might Have the Key to Your $1,200 Payment
Federal “stimulus” payments can be elusive to individuals and families who lack the fundamental resources of a bank account, state-issued I.D., even a phone number. When she’s not taking “temps at the tents” at St. Vincent de Paul’s Dusk to Dawn site on Hwy 99N, Vikki Perpinan helps people gather the resources necessary to file for their share of the Economic Impact Payments.
She assists up to five clients each morning, working from her office at the Lindholm Center. The Social Service office is closed to the public at this time, but appointments can be made by calling 541.689.6747. The Atkinson Food Room and Service Station are still open and available with limited access.
Once out, word of the service spread like wildfire, Vikki said.
To request help accessing stimulus payments call 541.689.6747
The people she assists face myriad barriers and may lack computer skills altogether. To start the filing process, state-issued identification or a driver’s license helps immensely but is not necessary. Also helpful are bank-account and bank-routing numbers, an email address and password, and a phone number.
In the absence of any or all of the above, in about 20 minutes Vikki can set up an email account and file for the stimulus payment. She can even assist those who haven’t filed tax returns in recent years. “I do it the same way as if filing a tax return, in an IRS portal,” she said. “They (the IRS) accept or reject it, then we fix it if necessary.”
Payments follow on “IRS time,” Vikki said. People who receive Social Security of any kind will see the funds added to their bank account or card. People who sought Vikki’s help early in the COVID-19 crisis are receiving payments or notices that payments are coming.
Each application represents a story.
“The first guy I helped was waiting for surgery,” Vikki said. “The doctor wouldn’t do it because he didn’t have a place to recover. “He’s going to use his stimulus payment to get a hotel room so he can have his surgery, recover and get back to work.”
She also has heard of payments going toward housing deposits, or into savings during a housing search. “It’s a simple thing for me to do,” Vikki said of her role. “Twelve hundred dollars is very helpful to people.”
Her motives run deeper, toward inequalities revealed anew by the COVID-19 pandemic. “Every darn one of us on this planet deserves to be treated with dignity,” she said. “These people are suffering just like the rest of us. As human beings we need to help out as much as we can.”