16 • February 2017 • UPBEAT TIMES, INC.


United Way and Catholic Charities Announce Expansion of Free Tax Preparation for Northern California


Santa Rosa, CA. ~ Last year, the United Way led Earn It! Keep It! $ave It! (EKS) coali- tion of more than 20 partner or- ganizations, including Catholic Charities, helped 5200 in- dividuals and fami- lies file their taxes free


for and brought


back $6.8 million


dol-


lars in refunds to our local economy. Free tax


preparation


will begin again on January 28th for households earning $54,000 or less. Tax sites are available throughout Sonoma, Mendocino, Lake, and Humboldt counties. Tax clients can dial 2-1-1 to con- firm their eligibility and make


an appointment or visit united- waywinecountry.org to sched- ule an appointment online. At tax


sites, families


and individu- als receive free tax help from IRS certified tax


pre-


parers who are fa- mil- iar


with tax


credits avail- able to low-to-mod- erate income households.


Some of these tax credits in- clude the federal and state Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and the Child Tax Credit, potentially adding up to refunds as high as $9,000 or


more. The average EKS cli- ent federal refund last year was $1,824.


Thanks to a new partner-


ship with Catholic Charities of Santa Rosa tax clients will also be offered the chance to lever- age that refund and access ad- ditional benefits and services through the new United Way and Catholic Charities Savings and Credit Ready Initiative. The purpose of this new ini-


tiative is to bring greater finan- cial stability to the residents of our region. These additional services include benefit enroll- ment, financial education, cred- it repair, and matched savings. While the EITC is proven to


be one of the most effective tools to help individuals and families climb out of poverty, it is not enough to ensure in- dividuals and families have


... continued on page 17


Marian Olsen of Petaluma hand-delivering the Upbeat Times to her dear friend Dallas Callahan and her dog Champagne in Surprise, AZ. It’s always nice to be with good friends at Thanksgiving and having a copy of Upbeat Times!


Upbeat in Surprise, AZ!


16 • February 2017 • UPBEAT TIMES, INC.


“Catch sunbeams in a mirror! A reflection of a sunbeam can melt an iceberg.” ~ Lara Biyuts


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