C.A.S.H. - Week 1 News

January 31, 2011

Author: Rita M. Eygabroad Garretson

Dear Friends of C.A.S.H.,

C.A.S.H. is open for tax season! 

About 500 volunteers have completed training in one or more roles (Front Desk, Advisor, Tax Preparer) and our doors opened for business on Monday, January 24.  In just four days, we helped 490 working families claim $1.6 million in federal and NY State tax refunds and credits, of which $806 thousand were EITC.  (Details by site are attached.)   We have a great start toward our goal of filing federal and NY State tax returns for 13,000 of Monroe County’s low income workers.  These families will collect more than $20 million in tax refunds and credits.

As you all know, C.A.S.H. is about more than tax return preparation. 

We connect our clients to community resources that will improve their financial stability:  financial literacy programs, savings programs, home buying programs, credit counseling, public benefits, low cost computers and more.  We encourage all of our clients to direct deposit their tax refunds – and we bank the unbanked so they can eliminate their dependence on expensive services offered by check cashers.  We’re also helping families start safe and affordable savings programs via the purchase of U.S. Savings Bonds with their tax refund. This week 4 savings accounts and 6 checking accounts were opened, as well as 9 prepaid card accounts. About 5% of our clients purchased savings bonds.

We are operating 3 super sites: 

• Downtown, 214 Lake Avenue, in the building behind the Volunteers of America retail store,
• Irondequoit, 2111 Hudson Avenue, near Hudson and Titus, behind / across the parking lot from the new Summit branch office,
• Henrietta, South Town Plaza, next to Plato’s Closet.

We also have 10 partner sites: 

• Action for a Better Community (Stone St),
• Family Restoration Project (Wellington Ave.),
• Genesee Co-Op Federal Credit Union (Gregory St.),
• Heritage Christian Services (clients and employees only),
• Monroe County Department of Human Services (clients only),
• Ibero American Action League, in partnership with Roberts Wesleyan College SIFE Program (clients and employees of their Clifford Avenue Center only),
• Roberts Wesleyan College (N. Chili),
• Rochester Rehabilitation Center (Mount Hope Ave.),
• 1199 SEIU United Health Care Workers (Broad Street and Strong Memorial Hospital), and
• Unity Health Systems (employees only).

Our success is possible because of the generosity of our volunteers and YOU.  

This year we have received funding from the

• United Way of Greater Rochester,
• Rochester Area Community Foundation,
• 2011 VITA Grant (Federal Funding),
• Bank of America,
• Citizens Bank,
• ESL Federal Credit Union,
• Frontier Communications,
• HSBC,
• JP Morgan Chase,
• M&T Bank,
• National Disability Institute, and
• United Way of New York State. 

Organizations providing in-kind contributions include: 

• Empire Justice Center: “backroom support” – payroll, accounting, cash flow, admin support, IT support, etc.;
• IRS: laptops, printers, toner cartridges, training material;
• MCC Damon City Campus: computer labs for tax prep training; 
• Medical Motor Services:  distribution of brochures to dozens of organizations throughout Monroe County; 
• Merkel Donohue: crews and vehicles for moving furniture and equipment;
• South Town Plaza Associates: Henrietta C.A.S.H. Site;
• United Way of Greater Rochester : conference rooms for volunteer training;
• Volunteers of America:  Downtown C.A.S.H. Site;
• Wegmans: Irondequoit C.A.S.H. Site; and
• xpedx, a division of International Paper Rochester Division: paper for printing copies of tax returns.

C.A.S.H. Client Story of the Week (Volunteer Tax Preparer from Downtown): 

 “I had the opportunity to help a woman who had a fairly straight forward tax return.  She had a W2, a couple of children, and she was eligible for EITC.  Before coming to C.A.S.H., she went to a paid preparer who was going to charge her $300 to file her return.  She left because she couldn’t afford the fee, and after talking with a friend, she made an appointment with C.A.S.H.  Her refund was about $1,200.  She was very appreciative of all the service she received at C.A.S.H.”

As the season progresses, I’ll send progress reports regarding the services we’ve provided to Monroe County’s working families.  If you have any questions, concerns or suggestions, please contact me.

Once again, thanks for your support.

Sincerely,

Rita

Supporting Documents: