Volunteer Tax Clinic at
2414 Park Avenue
Most people don't consider
doing their taxes a moving experience, but Aaron Griga knows that it can
be.
Aaron is a volunteer at the
Faith in the City Tax Clinic, which is hosted by LSS every Tuesday from
February 3 to April 13, at the LSS offices, 2414 Park Avenue, in
Minneapolis.
"It's a good way to give back
with the gifts that I have," said Griga, who works for Thrivent Financial
in downtown Minneapolis. "I'm fairly representative of the volunteers who
work for the Tax Clinic. We all work full-time and have some tax
expertise. The training provided before we volunteer is excellent."
AccountAbility Minnesota, a
nonprofit agency that provides tax preparation and accounting assistance
to individuals and small businesses with limited resources through
volunteers, provided training for the volunteers, which included federal,
State of Minnesota, and tax software training.
"AccountAbility Minnesota and
Faith in the City are partners in this venture," said Colleen Wilkinson,
who manages the Tax Clinic. "They provide much of what we need to operate
the site, like software, technical support, paperwork, and envelopes. We
provide the building and the volunteers."
The Faith In the City Tax
Clinic fills the need for competent, accurate, tax preparation for little
or no cost to residents of the Phillips Neighborhood. Single people
earning less than $25,000 per year, and families earning less than $35,000
are eligible for services. Clients sit down with a volunteer, who prepares
the tax return using the computer software. Then the return is submitted
to a reviewer. There are usually six volunteers at the Faith in the City
Tax Clinic each Tuesday.
"I find that I enjoy
volunteering on a one-to-one basis," said Griga. "An example of that was a
recently divorced woman I served who was now raising children on a single
income. With a salary of $8,400 in 2003, she was barely managing to make
ends meet, and it had been an extremely difficult year for her and her
children. She brought in all the proper documentation and she received the
Federal Earned Income Credit, the Working Family Credit, the Child Tax
Credit, and a property tax refund. We were able to get her a refund nearly
equal to her gross income. She was very emotional leaving that day."
"That's what makes it worth
coming in here. She deserved every penny before she even walked in the
door, but we get to be the messenger."
