Federal Funding Opportunity for Rural Places

The RuFES Network (Rural Family Economic Success) has announced two federal funding opportunities that may be of interest to free tax preparation coalitions in the Virginia CASH Campaign network.

• The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has announced the Community-Oriented Connectivity Broadband Grant program for 2009

Read more....

• The Department of Health and Human Resources has announced $50 million in grant funding to support non-profit organizations working to address the needs of economically struggling families and communities.

Read more....

Posted by Carolyn Spohrer at 8:31 AM - Categories: Funding Opportunities

The Recovery Act Comes to Virginia

As part of the $9 billion that will come to Virginia, the Recovery Act's tax credits are designed to quickly put money directly in the hands of Virginia families, giving the states economy a much needed economic boost.

Three credits that you will want to note:

• Making Work Pay Credit:  A new refundable income tax credit of up to $400 per worker in 2009
• Federal Child Tax Credit: expanded eligibility for the $1,000 credit
• Federal Earned Income Tax Credit: The EITC has been temporarily expanded for working families with three or more children

Read the report from the Commonwealth Institute....(see page 5 for details on the tax credits)

Posted by Carolyn Spohrer at 10:55 AM - Categories: Press Releases

Strengthening Rural Families Resources (RuFES)

The Aspen Institute has posted additional resources and handouts that were mentioned in the May 14 webinar:

• A PDF copy of the full StimuRUFES PowerPoint presentation
• The full recording of the webinar
• A one-page handout on ALL the RuFES-related tax credits
• A resource list on stimulus and budget websites with current information
  

Read more from the RuFES resource page....

Posted by Carolyn Spohrer at 10:43 AM - Categories: Press Releases | Conferences/Webinars

2010 VITA Grant Opportunity Conference Calls

The IRS SPEC office has announced that they will host two conference calls with SPEC partners to cover changes for 2010 and to address questions and concerns about the 2010 VITA Grant.  The east coast call is scheduled for 10:00 am EST.  The call in number and participant code will post to www.irs.gov (keyword search VITA grant).

The 2010 VITA Grant application open season will launch on Monday, June 1, 2009 and will close on July 17, 2009.

View the IRS SPEC PowerPoint with grant highlights....

Read the PDF publication about the VITA Grant....

Posted by Carolyn Spohrer at 10:30 AM - Categories: VITA | Funding Opportunities

SHREITC 2009 Filing Season Results

Have You Heard Newsletter Boasts South Hampton Road EITC Coalition Results

The Norfolk Department of Human Services is a key member of the South Hampton Roads Earned Income Tax Credit Coalition (SHREITC) which finished its 2009 tax filing season with impressive results:

• 1400 federal returns prepared
• $1.6 million in federal refunds
• $729,521 in EITC refunds

Read more....

Posted by Carolyn Spohrer at 1:34 PM - Categories: Press Releases | Coalition Partners

Ten Songs to Get You Through the Recession

Dollars and Sense by Alicia Solomon

Alicia Solomon, Director of the HOPE Initiative in Martinsville, writes a monthly column for The Martinsville Bulletin.  "Everyone has a song that reminds you of something special.  The song of your youth, the first dance at your wedding, the song that made you want to get up and dance."

Read more....

Posted by Carolyn Spohrer at 11:31 AM - Categories: Press Releases

Virginia CASH Campaign Results

VACAP Announces Virginia CASH Campaign Results

The Virginia Community Action Partnership is proud to announce the results from the 2009 Tax Filing Season.

• 21,572- Federal returns filed
• $22,556,384 - total federal refunds
• 6,003 - claiming the Earned Income Tax Credit
• $7,897,689 - total EITC refunds

Read more....

Posted by Carolyn Spohrer at 9:51 AM - Categories: Press Releases | VITA | Coalition Partners