Alliance Meeting Minutes:
Minutes
NH Statewide EITC Alliance
December 12, 2005
Centennial Senior Center, Concord, NH
Present: Wayne Croteau, Jeff Goodrich, Patte Ardizzoni, Sam Chase, Tobey Davies, Cary Gladstone, Joy Barrett, Judy Woodward, Marie Demers, Suzann Knight, Val Long, Gregg Woodes, Cathy Flynn, Joanne Yasika, Deborah Schachter, Harvey Epstein
1. Introduction of the New NH EITC Web Site!
A draft of the new NH EITC Web site was previewed. The domain names are: nheitc.org, nheitc.com, nheitc.net. The Web site has an entry page that contains the updated NH EITC commercial for literacy purposes, and the home page contains four main components. The Web site is for professionals and consumers. It is intended to be a main source of data for both groups and help answer most questions that arise concerning EITC, AEITC, tax preparation sites, asset building, etc.
A CD of the Web site will be sent to all Alliance members for their review before the site goes live. All comments should be sent to Val. The IRS noted that their individual names and phone numbers should not be posted, but rather their 800# should be posted. We also need LARC information on the Web site, and Wayne and Jeff will provide that. Other areas that need to be improved upon is RAL section and the Money Builder, for IRS alerts - get links from Cathy and Gregg.
2. Updates
Franklin Asset Building Coalition - have 11 new volunteers. Will be distributing information to WIC in their community. Have buttons, and other marketing pieces, which will help get the word out. Did a presentation to Head Start. On January 28th their VITA site will be starting (4 Saturdays at the Tripp Center and tagging onto AARP on Wednesdays). Jenny Blake will be at the Elementary School in Hill on Wednesday nights.
Nashua Asset Building Coalition - 3 sites (EOC, Library, and Triangle Credit Union) this year. At the EOC, they will have on-line TaxWise and teach people to do their own taxes. The sites will start 1/26 - Thursdays and Saturdays. Outreach has been at Head Start, Financial Literacy classes, Hispanic meetings (Wayne will do). They are focusing on employers in the Nashua area as well. The city of Nashua has stepped up to the plate as an "employer" and will be distributing EITC/AEITC pay check stuffers.
Manchester Asset Building Coalition - Ready to go for the season. Weed and Seed grant has provided for the upgrading of computers. They have 30 volunteers, and United Way has given them dollars for marketing. They will be having training for volunteers in January, with volunteers doing Link and Learn on their own, then tax law in 3 sequential Saturdays with separate classes on quality and customer service. The city of Manchester has been selected to receive dollars for NeighborWorks (financial literacy). Their VITA schedule is to start February 1st at the following sites: Manchester Community Resource Center, Elmwood Gardens, Mobile sites on Thursdays(Mental Health Center, Easter Seals) coordinated through Tobey Davies, SNHU, - they will also be offering credit counseling. St. Mary's Credit Union will wait until next year, but has provided 8 volunteers.
Family Resource Center @ Gorham - Judy attended an energy expo to advertise EITC and tax preparation at the Family Resource Center and networked with agencies at the expo. They have 4 definite volunteers (6 haven't gotten back to her), and will talk with Rotary as well to recruit volunteers. Berlin has a coffee shop with wireless Internet access and could be a remote site for tax preparation. The Family Resource Center will be using the computer lab for tax preparation this year, and will have a big push on financial literacy. Training will take place in January. Sam Chase is providing AARP sites in Lancaster and Littleton, and will still provide help when needed for Gorham (thank you Sam!).
Whole Village Center at Plymouth - The Plymouth State University VITA site at the Pease Public Library will be moved to the Whole Village Center in Plymouth. Robin Peters is the new site coordinator, with Roger Babin providing technical support and students to prepare taxes. Robin will also recruit other volunteers from the community. The Whole Village serves 19 communities and has 13 agencies under it's umbrella.
Rockingham County Asset Building Coalition - new VITA site in Portsmouth. They are working with AARP (it is a co-listed site) at the Portsmouth Municipal Complex. The site coordinator is a retired IRS executive and the training schedule is set.
AARP - the AARP list is all set and will be referred to the IRS for combining with VITA site information. The Claremont AARP site is at the Senior Center again this year, but the hours have been cut back.
LARC - Wayne and Jeff are conducting outreach and education for ESL. Last year was the first year, and they had the best success with adult education classes. They expect grant funding again, but don't know yet.
IRS - Handed out stats. NH has the lowest number (proportionately) of EITC returns (that makes us #1 - a dubious honor).
3. EITC Research Results
UNH Cooperative Extension conducted research earlier in the year to determine financial behaviors of EITC participants. A brief overview of results was presented at this meeting. The full results are available on the nheitc.org Web site. In addition, focus group research from the previous year is also available on the Web site.
4. 2006 EITC Media
Both the 30 second EITC television commercial and two 60 second radio commercials have been updated. The television commercial will be sent to coalition heads (and other interested parties)to get to their local TV stations. The radio commercials will be made available via the Internet for coalition heads (and other interested parties) to direct their local radio stations to use. Val will email the Internet site where the radio commercials will be available. The media schedule has been developed by The Brodeur Group. The television commercial will run for six weeks starting January 30th on Channel 9 (paid advertising with matching PSA's). The radio commercials will run on WOKQ for 11 weeks (paid), and PSA's on WOKQ and WSHK.
5. NH Help Line
Again this year, we have contracted with NH Help Line to take calls and refer NH residents to VRPP sites throughout NH. The television and radio media cites the NH Help Line number, and we hope to increase the number of calls from last year (388).
6. Other
An additional item of discussion was use of the Preparer Use Fields. Since we as a group don't gather any consistent data about our clients, the Preparer Use Fields provide the opportunity to learn more about clients. There are 7 questions:
1. What is your ethnicity?
2. Do you have a bank account?
3. What language do you speak?
4. How did you have your taxes done last year?
5. How did you hear about this place?
6. Did you receive public benefits?
7. We would like to keep your name and information on this form on file and possibly follow-up with you. Is that ok?
We will send out the questions and instructions. VITA sites will try to program these fields in, Harvey will check to see if this is feasible for AARP.
We also reviewed the new NH EITC Alliance logo drafts. Back to top.
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