SPRINGFIELD — As she stood among more than 100 people gathered outside the offices of U.S. Sens. Ed Markey and Elizabeth Warren in downtown Springfield on Thursday, Kathy Laprade said she’s got her “fingers crossed” that the Trump administration won’t gut Social Security.

But instead of waiting and hoping that won’t happen, the Indivisible Northampton member found herself on the streets of the region’s largest city making this demand of the Trump administration — stay away from Social Security.

“I am here to stand for Social Security,” said Laprade, who has been on Social Security for several years.

Former Northampton business owner Priscilla Finn elaborated in a separate interview: “We’re retired and collecting our Social Security benefits, and we’re just really concerned that it isn’t going to last,” she said.

Thursday’s “Hands Off Social Security” rally, which comes in the wake of a series of nationwide “Hands Off” rallies last weekend, was organized by Indivisible Northampton-Swing Left Western Mass and Rise Up Western Mass Indivisible.

“The people, united, will never be defeated,” chanted participants, many of whom were waving signs amid approving honks by drivers passing by.

Warren, Markey and Neal were not present, but staffers from their offices gave short speeches in support of the crowd.

Among the crowd were many Hampshire County residents, including Finn and her husband, Jack. Priscilla Finn says that her recently retired friends who are trying to get Social Security benefits are having trouble accessing the administration’s website, with some being told they’ll be sent a password in 15 to 20 days.

“People need their money,” she said.

Pat Bukowski, 54, still has some time before he starts collecting his own Social Security checks. But right now he is worried for his mother. The Granville resident and member of Indivisible Northampton said, “I have a mother who is in her 80s. You know, I can’t support her if she loses Social Security.”

As for his own future, he said, “And I mean, I can’t work forever. ... They told us that Social Security wasn’t going to be there, and now it’s looking like that’s happening.”

While GOP legislators in Congress have said they won’t cut Social Security funding, many at Thursday’s protest are concerned about the future of the longtime program, especially given that Elon Musk has called it a “ponzi scheme.” Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency is seeking to modernize the SSA, a process that involves eliminating staff and making other decisions that many at the rally on Thursday believe will jeopardize the program.

Among the modernization efforts that they criticize are an overhaul of the SSA software used to store data, an introduction of a poorly functioning new website, and staff firings that is leaving the 71 million countrywide who rely on Social Security stranded for assistance.

Rallygoers speak

Laprade said it’s the new applicants she is most worried about.

“Anybody who needs to apply right now, there’s nobody to answer the phone,” she said, referencing how 7,000 have been fired from Social Security offices since February, with thousands of more firings currently in the works.

Laprade also is worried about Musk’s attempt to transition Social Security from an antiquated data system, called COBOL, which was developed in the mid-1950s. While this is not the first time that the SSA has tried to part ways with the system, the last time the agency tried to make the move in 2017 it was said it was a process that would potentially take five years. Musk wants it done in months.

Many at the rally expressed worry that this is a scheme to leave out people who are entitled to their Social Security benefits.

Laprade referenced the handful of youngsters like Luke Farritor, who developed a hieroglyph reading AI model that got him his job, that are spearheading the Social Security transition under Musk.

Finn had said that a lot of her friends are nervous about data being cleared from the old system during this transition. She said, “A lot of people are worried that they’re going to erase the earnings records,” she said. Many of those friends are taking precautions by printing out their yearly earnings statements.

As for customer service virtually collapsing at the agency, Arlene Kirsch, one of the day’s organizers with Invisible Northampton, gave a rundown into what a phone call is like with Social Security offices is like nowadays.

In addition to very long lines at offices, she said those seeking help, “are on the phone for two hours, and then the phone system comes, and then the phone system hangs up on them.”

The website is also not functioning, she said.

“The system is crashing, and that’s for people even trying to do what they [the Trump administration] want, which is to access services online,” said Kirsch.

Lori Tisdell was among those to speak, and shared a glimpse into the site, that demands, “the front of my license, the back of my license, and take a picture of myself to get onto my account. So that’s what they’re doing. Not everybody can do that,” she said.

Tisdell said Social Security has given her ex-husband a better quality of life because it pays for a portion of his housing at an assisted living facility.

“The daily care he receives through Social Security,” which she noted he paid into for 40 years, “has kept him living and with a quality of life. He has friends and participates in activities, both in his care facility and outside with family and friends.”

Kirsch pointed out in her own address that Social Security has continued to be one of the strongest programs in the country, with less than 5% overhead.

“Social Security is the most successful anti-poverty program ever,” she said, which is a widely held opinion about the program instituted by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1935.

As for the legislators who forwarded messages, they said they will continue to fight for what the people of America have earned through their lives, and all classified these moves by Trump and Musk as “illegal.”

Samuel Gelinas can be reached at sgelinas@gazettenet.com.