Press Releases:
Rural Family Economic Success (RuFES) Article
ISSUE NUMBER 2
WINTER 2007
The RuFES Round-up!
Action-Learning for the Rural Family Economic Success (RuFES) Alumni Network Sponsored by the Annie E. Casey Foundation Coordinated by the Aspen Institute Community Strategies Group
RuFES Alumni in Action: EITC Innovations
NEW HAMPSHIRE: EITC coalitions—Round-up your pard’ners!
Because rural organizations tend to be relatively small, running rural EITC programs often requires cobbling together a coalition of organizations to get things done. Keeping coalitions together requires that partners see benefits for their organizations—or for the families they exist to serve.
In New Hampshire, two unusual partners participate in the statewide EITC Coalition (RuFES Alumni 2005). The Legal Aid and Referral Center (LARC) has been part of the EITC coalition since its inception, and has provided tax materials in several languages. LARC finds that EITC sites provide an excellent venue to reach families. This year LARC will offer eviction prevention workshops at tax preparation sites—providing one more way to attract customers to the site, and a handy way for LARC to reach new audiences for its services.
A new member of the coalition is Concord Area Trust for Community Housing (CATCH). CATCH is an Individual Development Account (IDA) provider, and therefore has access to the past tax returns of its IDA savers. Recognizing that its IDA savers may not all know about the EITC, and that it could make a big difference in their savings, CATCH is reviewing IDA savers’ past returns to identify those who may have been eligible but failed to claim the EITC. Those who qualified but didn’t file are offered the chance to amend their previous returns to claim the credit for up to three years.
CATCH also provided a very successful First-Time Homebuyer Workshop to the EITC Coalition’s customers last summer. Fifteen families completed the program, and were offered the chance to become IDA program participants—using their EITC to jumpstart year-round asset building!
These are just two ways that unusual partners can add value to an EITC coalition’s work while benefiting the families the partners exist to serve.
For more information, contact Cary Gladstone at Casey Family Services.
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