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There is Still $10 Million in Unclaimed EITC:

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VITA Volunteers Unite

 

 

 

Here We Come:

Volunteers Save the Day

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10/13 VITA Volunteer    Kickoff  

 

12/1 VITA Training Begins                 

 

1/22 Tax Season Begins         

 


Denver Colorado is hosting the National Community Tax Coalition's 6th Biennial Conference on October 1st and 2nd.

 

 

 

 

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To Learn More About EITC Around Country Please CLICK HERE to visit the National Community Tax Coalition Website

 

 

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The Annie E. Casey Foundation has come out with a report titled:

 

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Check out Volunteer Opportunities for You and Your Organization

 

To submit upcoming events, stories or ideas :

Write:

 

EITC Program

Steven Meyeroff

330 N. Commerce Park Loop, Suite 200

P.O. Box 86750

Tucson, AZ

85754-6750

 

Call:

 

520-903-9000 X718

 

Fax:

 

520-903-9002

 

E-Mail:

 

 

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COMING SOON!!!  In the Next EITC News:

 

-Update on 2007 Training  and Site Development

 

-An EITC funding update

 

-And Much More....

Hello Task Force Members and VITA Volunteers!

 

The United Way EITC Staff is pleased to present the third edition of our electronic EITC Newsletter. 

We hope this will be an effective tool to share news about EITC, our partners and our volunteers. 

A big thanks to those who read and shared information from the last newsletter with others. 

 

Please feel free to suggest events, stories and news to be shared in future EITC News.  All you need to do is scroll down the newsletter until you see contact information for ME!


stevenssignature
Steven Meyeroff
VITA Volunteer Coordinator


 

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It's September; Time to Get Back on the VITA Train

 

 

 

As your fearless VITA Volunteer coordinator, I want to welcome you to the official opening of the EITC/VITA 2007 tax season.  The United Way EITC staff and the EITC Task Force have been working diligently all summer to improve the experience of first, and foremost, the VITA volunteer and secondly, the taxpayers.  

 

CLICK HERE to sign up and be apart of another rewarding tax season.

 

For those of you who want to know what goes on behind the scenes, the VITA program is part of the EITC (Earned Income Tax Credit) Initiative of Tucson and Southern Arizona and is managed by the EITC Task Force.  This task force is made up of volunteers from agencies, businesses, churches, schools and governmental organizations from throughout our community and is led by United Way of Tucson and Southern Arizona.

 

To enhance the VITA volunteers' experience we have worked really hard during the off-season to improve VITA training.  We have recruited some great new instructors to implement a new curriculum that will incorporate more computer time with the ever-loved tax law portion of the training.  Most of you will need to sign up for VITA training in either December or January. 

 

 

CLICK HERE for Beginner Training

 

CLICK HERE for Refresher Training

 

CLICK HERE for Site Coordinator and Electronic Originator Training

 

With every new year, there will be some changes.

 

CLICK HERE for the latest list of VITA Sites for Tax Year 2007 

 

CLICK HERE to see the description of our new Asset Development Volunteer Position

 

New for this year, we will be offering a special training on TaxWise online in January before tax season begins.  Stay tuned for dates and times. 

 

_____________________________________________LadderN2L_____

 

 

Nets 2 Ladders to Hit Certain VITA Sites in 2008

 

 

 

N2L's Mission - Lift Above. Help Beyond.  

 

N2L's goal is to help strengthen today's human service safety nets, so public and private organizations can lift more low-wage citizens above their social and financial challenges - and help them climb the ladder of self-sufficiency toward more rewarding futures.

 

There are two programs within N2L that will help families become more financial stable.  These two programs are the Benefits Enrollment Network (BEN), a Web-based software platform for benefits enrollment and asset building and SavingsPoint which provides the electronic functionality needed to open bank accounts quickly and easily.  This provides low-wage workers access to the financial services they need to start building financially secure futures.

 

Some of you might remember that the EITC Task Force looked into this product for last tax season, but the upfront cost was too high.  Through a partnership between N2L, United Way of America and IBM, the cost of obtaining the software and the hardware to run N2L has been greatly reduced. 

 

IBM has donated seven laptops where asset development volunteers will be stationed to help taxpayers connect with public benefits or open up a savings account.  This will not affect the normal operations of a VITA site, but will add an important service that will help Pima County's families become more financially stable. 

 

Stay tuned for updates in EITC News....

 

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EITC Task Force of Southern Arizona to Co-Chair Governor's Task Force

 

As most of you know, the Governor of Arizona convened an EITC Task Force  around the same time as Southern Arizona did.  Over the last 5 years, its main purpose has been to support the Phoenix area VITA programs as well as build a statewide narrative around EITC and VITA.   

 

This past summer, the task force came under new leadership within the Governor's Office.  The new leadership thought it would be beneficial to have Task Force members plan and run the monthly meetings in much the same fashion as the United Way runs its impact councils.

 

Being the EITC/VITA leaders in Southern Arizona that we are, the EITC Task Force of Southern Arizona thought it would be great to co-chair the Governor's Task Force.  On Thursday August 23rd, the Governor's EITC Task Force voted unanimously to approve the Vanguard Corporation as well as the EITC Task Force of Tucson and Southern Arizona to be its co-chairs.

 

James Kolar from the Vanguard corporation will work to increase corporate participation in state-wide VITA efforts.  We will work to move the task force to not only support VITA around the state, but to leverage statewide resources to create asset development opportunities for taxpayers to make Arizona's families more financially stable.

 

At the next EITC Task Force meeting we hope to generate ideas on topics that can further the discussion of EITC and financial stability on a statewide level.   

 

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NewSpiritChurch 

New Spirit Church to Add 3 Computers and Internet for the 2008 Campaign 

 

 

New Spirit Lutheran (the corner of Camino Seco and E. Old Spanish Trail)  became a tax site during the 2006 tax season and we completed 141 returns.  We had wonderful support from church members who took the training and became tax preparers and greeters.  We also had a number of volunteers from the community that liked our site because it was closer to their homes, which meant they did not have to drive all the way to the west side of Tucson. 

 

We were open on Wednesday afternoons and Saturday mornings.  Church members even provided coffee and snacks to make the waiting a bit more bearable.  During the 2007 tax season, we completed 249 returns!  And besides the snacks, we showed videos like "Finding Nemo" while people waited.  This was a big hit with the kids!  At the beginning of the season, we had to turn folks away because we did not have enough tax preparers or enough time to serve everyone.  This was frustrating to us because we were afraid that when people got turned away they would turn around and go to a paid preparer which is what VITA is trying to prevent in the first place.

 

New Spirit's Tax Site Committee realized we needed to do something to prevent this.  We went to our church's endowment board and made a grant request to expand our tax site.  The request was approved and we are in the process of adding more computers and getting wired for more Internet capability.  Our plan is to go from 4 computers to 7,  add one more day a week during the busy time of February and also provide appointment times for folks who cannot come in on regularly scheduled days.  Our volunteers are willing to put in a few extra hours also to ensure we do not have to turn anyone away.  It is amazing when we all work together, what we can accomplish.

 

Karla Wildberger

VITA Site Contact New Spirit Lutheran Church

 

 

 

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Doris Rentschler, VITA Volunteer, is RACING TO SAVE LIVES!

 

Doris is training for an OLYMPIC distance triathlon as a member of The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's Team In Training (TNT).  Doris will train for the next 4 months to compete in the SOMA Triathlon in Tempe on October 28th.  The triathlon consists of a .9 mile (1500m) swim, 25 mile (40K) bike ride and a 6.2 mile (10K) run. She's participating on behalf of TNT's Honored Teammates:  Gabbi Martin, Alex Stuetze, Daniela Garcia and Carlos Valencia.  All Arizonans who have battled blood cancers. 

 

Doris is competing to raise money for Leukemia, Lymphoma, Hodgkin Lymphoma and Myelona blood cancer research.  Please support Doris' participation in this worthy endeavor by donating to help fund blood cancer research.

 

To donate online (secure website)

 

To donate by mail: contact Doris at 791-4343 x227 for information.

 

Update from Doris

 

Greetings Team!

 

Training Update:

It's official now.  All of the other non-athletes on our training team have dropped from the program, and I am now the slowest runner, cyclist and swimmer on the team!  The triathlon is October 28th in Tempe.  I'll let you know how I faired. 

 

Fundraising Update:

Thank you for the tremendous amount of support.  I'm pleased to announce that the $3500 goal has been exceeded.  Contributions  total $3658 to date.  I greatly appreciate all of the support I've received.

 

Sincerely,

 

Doris Rentschler

 

United Way of Tucson and Southern Arizona
330 N. Commerce Park Loop Ste. 200
Tucson, AZ 85745
520.903.9000 x 718

 

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United Way of Tucson and Southern Arizona | 330 N. Commerce Park Loop, Suite 200 | Tucson | AZ | 85754