A Day in the Life of Your United Way Contribution

One question that we're frequently asked is what programs and which people in our community benefit from United Way funding. I'd like to take you on a journey throughout day in the life of a typical United Way contribution.

At 6:30 a.m., when most of us are getting ready for the day, a child is eating breakfast at a residential shelter for abused or neglected children. United Way invests in programs that provide child welfare services - helping some of the most vulnerable members of our community every year.

Around 8 a.m., a single mom is dropping her toddler off at an early childhood center. Because it's a United Way agency, she knows her child is receiving quality care and education. And because of United Way funding, she receives a partial scholarship to help cover the cost of the center.

It's noon, and as you and I sit down to enjoy our lunch, homebound seniors are also receiving nutritious meals and a visit from a volunteer who cares. Senior citizens get help every year from United Way through recreational programs, respite care, transportation, at-home care, independent living centers and more.

At 1:30 p.m., a man with a disability starts his occupational therapy session. He's one of nearly 50,000 people that received help annually through the North Penn United Way.

At 3:30 p.m., a teenager has arrived at an afterschool program where she'll get tutoring, a healthy snack, fun activities and safe, responsible supervision. Did you know that United Way funds youth development programs here in our community?

It's 5:30 p.m., and a woman diagnosed with cancer is attending her first support session. Her kids are next door, talking with other children whose parents have cancer. All around our hometowns, people dealing with health challenges are getting education and hope, thanks to United Way.

It's 7 p.m., and a counseling session is underway for a family with a child facing behavioral issues. United Way supports dozens of programs that provide counseling for mental illness, addiction, emotional difficulties and more.

It's 9 p.m., and a family is going to bed tonight with full stomachs - because their dad stopped by a food pantry on his way home from work. Every year, United Way invests in nonprofits and programs that help families to meet basic needs.

Even in the middle of the night, your contribution is helping in the community. United Way and its partners are there to help families get back on their feet after they've faced devastating loss in the form of a house fire.

Your generosity makes days like this possible! Instead of focusing on one cause, we support over 35 nonprofits to help the community as a whole. In fact, 1 in 4 of us are helped by United Way each year. Thank you for all that you do to LIVE UNITED!

The NFL and Kid Rock LIVE UNITED!

Click here to check out this United Way Worldwide article about the 2010 United Way Thanksgiving Halftime Show and what the NFL and Kid Rock do to give back to communities. Then tune in on Thanksgiving Day to hear Kid Rock's new song!

Additionally, North Penn United Way urges you to get involved in your community by volunteering to be a budget coach at a Volunteer Income Tax Assistance site. Learn how to build a budget and how to utilize other resources in the community! Volunteer four hours each week during tax season (January 31-April 15) to coach low to moderate income individuals and families in the area on these topics and link them to services that can really help them--but that they may not have been aware of. Training is provided two evenings in January. Call the North Penn United Way at 215-855-3002 or email c.detweiler@npuw.org to volunteer.

Have a happy and safe Thanksgiving!

Shout Outs

I must admit that I've been neglecting my social media duties recently, but certainly not because I have nothing to say. November has been a busy month for us at NPUW, we hosted a very well attended community summit at the beginning of the month and we've had a number of campaigns kicking off and completed campaign envelopes coming into our office which has been keeping both me and Cyndi hopping. Harleysville Savings Bank, The Reporter and Cobham all held kickoff events this month. I'd be lost without all the folks who have been so helpful with attending kickoff events. It's just not possible to be in more than once place at once, no matter how much I try. Thank you to Colleen Miller and Dave Crosson of Indian Creek Foundation, to Karen Kispert of Keystone Opportunity Center, Robin Burstein of Encore Experiences at Harleysville, Bob Kramer of Boys & Girls Club, Amy Cummings-Leight of The PEAK Center, Maria Macalusa of the Women's Center of Montgomery County, Shushma Patel of Family Services, and Theresa Schwartzer of Univest. NPUW staffers Sarah, CC, Christa and Cyndi, who keeps us organized and scheduled as these kickoffs occur. But last, and certainly not least, thank you to my AMAZING and INCREDIBLE Community Campaign Chairperson, Chari Richardson of TRC Staffing Services, Inc. Chari's spirit and energy is quite infectious the NPUW is so very blessed to have Chari as a champion of our cause!

NPUW Thanks All Who Made Last Week's Summit a Success!

Community members and leaders participated in the North Penn United Way’s “Creating Focus for Community Change” Summit on November 10, 2010 from 7:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m at BranchCreek Community Church in Harleysville.

NPUW would like to send out a huge thank you to summit attendees for their participation, energy and ideas, to the volunteers whose efforts allowed the summit to run so smoothly, to media representatives who came to cover the event, and of course to the people at BranchCreek Community Church.

Please click here to read the wonderful article from The Reporter for some details and pictures.

(image from http://blogs.southtownstar.com/money/2008/12/the_value_of_gratitude.html)

Daylight Saving Time is a Good Opportunity to Make Sure You and Your Family Are Prepared for Emergencies

Daylight Saving Time comes to an end on Sunday – Goodbye Summer, Hello Winter! North Penn United Way would like to remind you to turn you clocks back on Sunday, November 7th. We encourage you to take advantage of the time change to make sure your family is prepared in case of emergency. There are a number of ways to prepare for an emergency including developing a family communication plan and practicing a fire escape route that includes an outdoor meeting place located a safe distance from your home. Putting together an emergency kit and checking batteries in your smoke detectors are also simple ways to ensure you are prepared. A working smoke alarm significantly increases your chances of surviving a deadly home fire so it's important to test alarms regularly and keep them properly maintained. This includes checking the manufacture/expiration date on the label, replacing the batteries, and cleaning dust away from the slots so that smoke can enter freely.

For more information on preparing for emergencies visit: http://www.blogger.com/www.ready.gov. For more information about home smoke alarms and fire sprinklers, please visit: www.usfa.dhs.gov/smokealarms.

Why Volunteer with VITA?

The Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program, an IRS-sponsored program that the North Penn United Way is currently recruiting volunteers for, provides free tax preparation services to area individuals and families earning less than $55,000 this year.

Did you know that a huge part of the VITA program is also ensuring that low to moderate income working taxpayers receive the full tax credits they’re eligible for? Rather than losing part of the credit paying for preparation fees, loan fees (refund anticipation), and other fees, VITA clients can put the full credit toward whatever they’d like to: whether it be saving, paying off debt, or household bills.

Many VITA clients (individuals and families making less than $55,000/year in earned income and less than $3,100 in investment income/year) qualify for the federal Earned Income Tax Credit. The EITC is one of the largest anti-poverty programs—it reduces taxes and can result in a refund for eligible working individuals and families. For those who meet the guidelines, a tax refund can be increased for tax year 2010 from $1 to more than $5,666.

[To view details about determining EITC eligibility, please visit www.irs.gov and search “EITC,” or utilize the EITC Assistant option (this assistant is currently available for tax year 2009).]

EITC is making a difference. For tax year 2008, the IRS reports that over 24 million people nationwide received nearly $50 billion in EITC ($1.6 million returned to EITC recipients in Pennsylvania alone). Incredibly, the EITC has lifted five million people, half of them children, out of poverty each year (also according to an IRS report).

EITC’s positive effects are not limited to the financial status of individuals and families. According to a 2009 article by the Children’s Defense Fund, “by boosting a family’s ability to provide food, clothes, books, shelter and other items that contribute to a child’s development,” academic achievement among children whose families receive this credit increases (CDF 1). These children have higher future earnings to look forward to, a reduction in stress levels, and healthier “psychological well-being of the entire family” (CDF 2).

The IRS and its partner agencies are working to educate the public about the credit. But not all taxpayers claiming the credit have access to or take advantage of free tax preparation services. Therefore a portion of this potentially life-changing tax credit does not always remain in the hand of the taxpayer it is meant for. Instead, many taxpayers pay to have taxes filed, take out Refund Anticipation Loans and use Refund Anticipation Checks—a portion of these tax credits pays for these services. Refund Anticipation Loans are “extremely high cost loans secured by the taxpayer’s expected refund—loans that last 7-14 days until the actual IRS refund repays the loan” (National Consumer Law Center). Associated with these loans are loan fees, tax preparation fees, and potentially 3-digit APR rates for loans that are not repaid (for example, the IRS refund is not as large as was expected).

A New York City Habitat for Humanity article on these loans reports that “at the top of the target list [for these loans] are families and individuals who claim the federal Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) (New York City Habitat for Humanity). And these lenders tend to succeed:

A report by the IRS SPEC Information Database for Tax Year 2006 shows that 66% of EITC recipients in Philadelphia paid preparers to file their tax returns and 26.6% of taxpayers claiming EITC took out a Refund Anticipation Loan.

The VITA program ensures that EITC is returned to eligible VITA clients— people that it is intended to benefit (and who need it). The tax credit cannot help in the way that it is intended, to fight poverty, if portions of the credits are paying for tax preparation, loan fees, and loan APRs.

VITA eliminates the need for paid tax preparation and for Refund Anticipation Loans. VITA clients can potentially receive their tax refunds within 4-10 days—returns are filed electronically. The VITA program in the North Penn and Indian Valleys, supported by the North Penn United Way and Greater North Penn Collaborative for Health and Human Services, assists clients in easily opening a bank account for direct deposit of a refund (which also speeds up the process of receiving the refund).

In 2009, the VITA program returned $535,000 in federal and state refunds to the North Penn and Indian Valley communities and over $3.4 million to Montgomery County. Families and individuals in these areas saved over $84,375 in tax preparation fees.

Want to help?

You can. Volunteer to be a greeter/screener, tax preparer, site coordinator, quality reviewer, interpreter or budget coach. For volunteer opportunity descriptions, please see the below post about volunteering with VITA. All positions are essential to the program’s ability to assist low to moderate income taxpayers and keep them from losing their money to tax services fees.

To volunteer, please contact Christa Detweiler at c.detweiler@volunteermontco.org or 215-855-3002.

Sources:

“Avoiding the Pitfalls of Refund Anticipation Loans.” Children’s Defense Fund. March 2009. http://www.childrensdefense.org/child-research-data-publications/data/ral-report-2009.html

National Consumer Law Center. http://www.nclc.org/.

“Refund Anticipation Loans.” New York City Habitat for Humanity. http://www.habitatnyc.org/pdf/advocate/covenant2008/RAL_factsheet.pdf