Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Recap
by Angie Matthiessen, Executive Director – United Way of Charlotte County
Just when the pandemic hit, the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program (VITA) was on target to be one of the best seasons yet with the number of volunteers and clients to be served. The UWCC-VITA program uses IRS-certified volunteer tax preparers to provide $0 cost tax preparation for individuals and families with an annual household income of less than $66,000. Locally, volunteers mobilize to provide this national program during tax season, which brings millions of dollars into Charlotte County, the return on investment is extensive.
Last spring we were re-designing our seven year-old investment into the VITA program. The VITA volunteer leader, Steve Vito, had spent countless hours over the years building the program to the success we were seeing in March 2020 and was retiring from his role.
Add to that a pandemic, keeping clients and volunteers safe, and that local schools – where we accomplished the work - no longer accepted visitors. While some might have grown concerned as the obstacles lined up, that was overcome with a can-do team attitude. With the help of many partners, VITA in Charlotte County was successful beyond our wildest dreams.
The shining stars who helped make this happen are many. The William G. and Marie Selby Foundation provided a COVID-19 grant to obtain laptops. The Charlotte County Department of Health provided vaccines for our volunteers who were reluctant to get back into person to person contact. Knowing the strong future of the VITA program to make a lasting economic impact on Charlotte County, the UWCC board committed to hiring a VITA Operations Coordinator, Nadia Demyanovskiy. The Boys & Girls Club of Charlotte County (Family Services Center) and the SKY Family YMCA partnered with us to create new VITA sites, which worked wonderfully. A special thank you goes to the United Way of Lee, Hendry, Glades, and Okeechobee Counties whom we partner with to bring VITA to Charlotte County.
A challenge we encountered was that AARP was not providing their tax preparation services, leading to an influx of clients looking for services. Many people who don’t usually file taxes needed to do so to get their stimulus. The UWCC phones were literally ringing off the hook!
The Operations Coordinator implemented new low and no-contact plans that met CDC-guidelines; keeping our volunteers, customers and staff safe was our #1 priority. Ultimately, we ran our VITA program (that extended into May) with a smaller group of committed volunteers.
These volunteers did a record-breaking job filing over 700 tax returns, with more than $700,000 in returns. Thirty three volunteers and 2,547 volunteer hours make for a pretty big WOW! Initial reports reflect that the average income for the clients served this year was $22,382 which shows why this program is so important.
According to Marcia Cullinan, UWCC Board Member and VITA Liaison, “we have long-term volunteers that can be faithfully counted on every year. We could not have done it without these
core volunteers. Our site coordinators led the VITA sites, overseeing every filing through to the end. Several people also wore many hats, serving in multiple locations and often multiple times in one week. Remarkably, we had a tremendous group of “newbies” who jumped right in even in the midst of a pandemic.”
Nadia Demyanovskiy marveled at the caring ways of our VITA volunteers. “The positive and encouraging client survey results we received speak about the great impact VITA has in the community.” It is safe to say that many may not have had their taxes done if not for the VITA program.
Thank you to each and every one of our mobilizing VITA volunteers. You made it look easy, exemplifying the UWCC values of partnership, compassion and excellence. If you would like to join our VITA program, please visit https://www.unitedwayccfl.org/VITA.
For more information, please call the Way of Charlotte County at 941-627-3539. Mission: Mobilizing the power of our community to break the cycle of poverty. Angie Matthiessen is the Executive Director of United Way of Charlotte County. She can be reached at director@unitedwayccfl.org.