Thanks to a United Way and SEEDCO program called Career Steps, United Way is recruiting nonprofit organizations and local businesses to serve as sponsor sites to help more than 13,000 households in Shelby County to obtain employment.
A new mandate in the State of Tennessee sets a lifetime maximum of 60 months for receiving public assistance. United Way, in partnership with SEEDCO, is helping to transition individuals from public assistance to gainful employment with the Career Steps program.
Linda, a Career Steps participant began working with United Way’s Earned Income Tax Credit/Smartbucks Alliance. Now, she is a Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) Supersite Coordinator. She has taught more than 30 individuals from BRIDGES and Porter Leath, two United Way partner agencies, how to help people file taxes.
“I learned from my experience of being out of work and then working again that it is ok to better yourself,” Linda said. “I was going through a rough time in my life when I was on public assistance. A lot of people out there are afraid, wondering how they are going to make it. I wanted to encourage those I have worked with in this program that if they put their minds to it, they can overcome a lot of things,” she said.
“What I actually did was I decided to pull volunteers from both of these organizations and teach them things like data entry and other skills so that they could achieve their goals,” Linda said. “Instead of pulling volunteers from my church or other places, I pulled them from these two United Way partner agencies and helped to prepare and get them certified for tax season assistance. They are using laptops and learning vital customer service skills. They are actually doing people’s taxes. And it is all being done for free.”
Linda is excited about the neighborhoods that are being helped as citizens see larger returns on their taxes. “This is our first year opening the site, and we have done about 200 returns in this local community. That is pretty good for our first year,” she said.
Linda and the other Earned Income Tax Credit Alliance preparers across the Mid-South will bring in nearly $3 million in Earned Income Tax Credits to the Memphis community.
The Career Steps workforce development initiative is yet another example of how individuals like Linda can attain self-sufficiency through innovative training solutions. The Earned Income Tax Credit initiative is proving to be a fertile training ground for individuals seeking to acquire new skills.
(Names and images changed to protect privacy. Factual events.)
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