Meet Our AmeriCorps NCCC's!

Today's featured NCCC team member is Jenna Nystrom.

Jenna Nystrom
Hometown: Hoffman Estates, IL

1. What does LIVE UNITED mean to you?
‘LIVE UNITED’ means that we should all work together to build stronger, more self-sufficient communities.

2. What are you passionate about?
I’m passionate about helping people, making a difference in someone’s life and hearing the stories of other people.

3. When did you start volunteering and/or giving back to your community?
I started volunteering when I was 13-14 years old. I did service projects in impoverished communities like community cleanups and serving at a soup kitchen.

4. How are you involved in the community?
I have been volunteering in my community for 8-9 years.

5. What have you learned from volunteering and being a part of your community?
That one person can make a difference, no matter how small.

6. What community issues are you most concerned about?
Shelter, education

7. Why do you think it is important to give back to your community?
Because we are in the community and it’s important to take care of it.

8. Do you have any particular memory from giving back to the community or volunteering?
I have volunteered with the Appalachia Service Project (ASP) each summer for nine years and I have met so many new people and touched so many lives by fixing up their homes and spending time with them.

Meet Our AmeriCorps NCCC's!

Today's featured NCCC team member is Derek Burkhardt.

Derek Burkhardt
Hometown: Manchester, NH

1. What does LIVE UNITED mean to you?
As a community we need to work together to improve our environment, other lives, as well as ourselves.

2. What are you passionate about?
Family, music, sports, teaching, kids, and the environment.

3. When did you start volunteering and/or giving back to your community?
I have been involved in community service since I was little. My parents and my church both encouraged me to volunteer in my community.

4. How are you involved in the community?
Volunteer

5. What have you learned from volunteering and being a part of your community?
I have learned that the preservation of one’s community and one’s environment is in turn the preservation of oneself. Helping others is helping yourself.

6. What community issues are you most concerned about?
Education

7. Why do you think it is important to give back to your community?
Service is the best way to support, liven and keep a community healthy. It encourages others to take the right steps.

8. Do you have any particular memory from giving back to the community or volunteering?
We helped a lady who was a Katrina victim rebuild her house from the ground up. Seeing her press on after losing everything was an example of great strength and perseverance to me.

They’re Back!

United Way is excited to, once again, be hosting a team of 11 young volunteers from the AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC). Team Water 4 will be with us for eight weeks (January 11 through March 5), providing a big boost to our local VITA efforts!

AmeriCorps NCCC (National Civilian Community Corps) is a full-time, team-based residential program for men and women age 18–24. Team Water 4 is based out of the NCCC Southwest Region Campus in Denver. The teams’ 11 members hail from across the United States, including California, Arizona, New Hampshire, Illinois, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Maryland, New York and Texas.

In keeping with their mission of strengthening communities through direct, team-based service, the team will primarily be staffing the mobile VITA site and reaching out to some of the hardest-to-contact populations in Pima County. They will be filing taxes at work sites, residential facilities for the elderly and/or handicapped, refugee centers, as well as remote rural areas of the county. They will also connect families and individuals to other financial stability resources (public benefits, financial education, banking, workforce development opportunities). Last year’s NCCC team prepared more than 500 returns and put $781,829 in federal refunds and credits back in the pockets of Pima County residents.

Welcome to Tucson, Team Water 4!

Meet the NCCC’s!

Each team member was asked to share their thoughts about volunteering and what it means to LIVE UNITED. Meet Ashley!

Ashley (Team Leader)
Hometown: San Diego, CA

1. What does LIVE UNITED mean to you?
I think that LIVE UNITED means working together for the common good.

2. What are you passionate about?
I am passionate about service in all aspects: health, animals, kids and the environment.

3. When did you start volunteering and/or giving back to your community?
I have been volunteering since I was very young. My parents were very involved in service while I was growing up.

4. How are you involved in the community?
I am involved by volunteering with AmeriCorps NCCC for the past year and a half.

5. What have you learned from volunteering and being a part of your community?
I have learned that I want to continue volunteering for the rest of my life.

6. What community issues are you most concerned about?
I am very concerned about the environment, health and education.

7. Why do you think it is important to give back to your community?
“Because if not you, then whom?” ~ Team Water 4 member Dave Zack

8. Do you have any particular memory from giving back to the community or volunteering?
I was recently sent to America Samoa with the Red Cross to help with the disaster efforts there. It was a surreal experience and it will stay with me forever.

Volunteer for Low-Income Families, Earn a Day at Disneyland

This tax season, United Way's Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program is teaming up with Mickey Mouse! Through Disney's "Give a Day, Get a Disney Day" program, VITA volunteers can earn a free ticket good for one day admission to a Walt Disney World® or Disneyland® theme park.

Disney is partnering with nonprofits and community organizations across the nation and United Way of Tucson and Southern Arizona was fortunate enough to be selected. This partnership means that our VITA program is listed on Disney's website when you search for volunteer opportunities in Tucson. Last year, VITA completed more than 8,000 returns which generated more than $9 million in refunds to the hard-working people of Tucson and Pima County. This year, VITA is looking to help even more families keep more of what they earned.

By signing up on Disney’s "Give a Day, Get a Disney Day" website, anyone from the community can help local families build savings and financial security. After someone volunteers with VITA, United Way will verify their service to Disney and they will receive a voucher for the parks. If you do not think you will be able to attend the parks with your voucher, you can also donate your voucher to Boys and Girls Clubs. There's no better time to make a dream come true for others and let Disney make a few come true for you.

Check out http://tr.im/vitadisney for more information.

Yéle Haiti Earthquake Fund

Some information for folks who are searching for a way to support recovery efforts in Haiti.

In 2005, Haitian-born and Brooklyn-raised musician Wyclef Jean created the grassroots charity organization Yéle Haiti. The former member of the Grammy-winning group The Fugees coined the term Yéle in a song and imbued it with the meaning, "a cry for freedom."

"The objective of Yéle Haiti is to restore pride and a reason to hope, and for the whole country to regain the deep spirit and force that is part of our heritage."

Within two hours of Tuesday's 7.0 magnitude earthquake, Jean and Yéle mobilized on social networking sites to raise funds for disaster relief. Two ways that you can help:

• Text "Yéle" to 501501, which will automatically donate $5 to the Yéle Haiti Earthquake Fund ($5 will be added to your cell phone bill)

• Donate at http://www.yele.org/

January is National Mentoring Month!

January was first declared National Mentoring Month in 2002 by the Harvard Mentoring Project and the Corporation for National and Community Service. Since that time, MENTOR, the National Mentoring Partnership, has taken an active role in raising the profile of mentoring throughout the United States each January.

Earlier this month, President Obama signed the National Mentoring Month 2010 Proclamation, click below to read the release:

http://www.nationalmentoringmonth.org/news_events/pressreleases/proclamation2010/

All children have the potential to succeed in life and contribute to society. However, not all children get the support they need to thrive. Many need more caring adults in their lives to offer guidance and friendship. They need mentors.

The benefits of mentoring include:
• Improving self-esteem;
• Keeping young people in school;
• Helping improve academic skills;
• Leading young people to resources they might not find on their own;
• Providing support for new behaviors, attitudes and ambitions;
• Increasing young people's ability to seek and keep jobs;
• Enhancing parenting skills.

A mentor can also give a child access to a new world of ideas and experiences.

Mentoring is a special kind of caring, supportive relationship or partnership between two people that is based on trust and respect. Mentors share their knowledge and experience with young people to help them define and reach their goals. If you can give just a few hours a month, there is a child that needs you.

The Mentoring Partnership of Arizona at the Volunteer Center of Southern Arizona recognizes the importance of National Mentoring Month and is taking an active role in encouraging Arizonans to become mentors and to close the mentoring gap.

They will be hosting a number of events during National Mentoring Month, including:

• MLK Day Film Projét Short Film Festival
• January 18th, 2010
• 5:30-7:30
• The Loft Cinema (3233 E. Speedway, Tucson)

• Thank Your Mentor Day Recognition Event
• Wednesday, January 20th, 2010
• 7:00-9:00
• Beowulf Alley Theatre Company (11 S. 6th Ave., Tucson)

• Mentoring Community Forum
• Saturday, January 23rd, 2010
• 9:00-12:00
• Trinity Presbyterian (4th Avenue and University Blvd., Tucson)

• Southern Arizona Mentoring Conference (An endeavor of Community Renewal and Southern Arizona Mentoring Coalition)
• Friday and Saturday, January 29th-30th, 2010
• The Journey (4700 N. Swan Rd., Tucson)

For more information on National Mentoring Month and how you can become involved, please email mentoring@volunteersoaz.org.

VITA Program Partnership Offers Many “Returns”

This tax season, students at the Pima Community College West Campus are partnering with United Way of Tucson and Southern Arizona and the IRS to expand the reach of the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program.

This semester, Pima students can enroll in the Basic Income Tax Preparation course (ACC160) and learn how to prepare taxes from an IRS representative. Students will learn about tax credits including the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), a refundable federal income tax credit for low-income working individuals and families.

The 3-credit class meets on Saturday mornings, 8:00 a.m. to noon, for three weeks. Students must pass an IRS volunteer tax preparer certification exam and perform a minimum of 18 service learning hours at a VITA site to successfully complete the course. In addition to earning college credit, Pima students will gain practical work experience and help local low- and moderate-income working families and individuals keep more of what they earn.

This program connects well with Pima Community College’s Community-Based/Service Learning Initiative, a program that emphasizes community service learning. The program encourages students to learn and develop through active participation in projects that meet actual community needs. The projects are intended to help students understand how their classroom learning can be applied in real-life contexts.

With the economy pushing many southern Arizona families into financial crisis, we need to ensure that people have the information and assistance needed to access EITC and use it to build savings and financial security. Census data shows that EITC lifts more children out of poverty than any other single program or category of programs.

United Way is very excited about this course offering and for the help Pima students will provide to the VITA program.

Pima students, click here to read more about the Basic Income Tax Preparation class:
http://tr.im/vitaclass

Class description from PCC Website
ACC160: Basic Income Tax Preparation

Basic skills in tax preparation. Includes volunteer assistance techniques and procedures; taxable revenues, expenses, and appropriate line items on various forms; completion and discussion of tax returns with clients; additional federal tax issues and forms on individual tax returns; and training in current tax preparation software.

Prerequisite(s): ACC 101.
Course Corequisites:
Information: Students must pass an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) volunteer tax preparer certification exam and perform a minimum of 18 service learning hours at a community VITA site to successfully complete this course.
Information: May be taken four times for a maximum of twelve credit hours.

2010 VITA Sites Opening Soon!

If you know anyone who earned less than $49,000 in 2009, they may be eligible for up to $5,600 in Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) – and they can get their taxes done free beginning in January.

Many families have their taxes done using their year-end paycheck and sometimes pay more than they should, especially if they want a quick refund. By taking advantage of the free tax preparation, these working families and individuals can keep more of what they earn.

Eligibility requirements for the 2009 EITC are:

• Families with three or more qualifying children who earn less than $43,279 (or less than $48,279 married filing jointly) are eligible for a credit of up to $5,657.

• Families with two qualifying children who earn less than $40,295 (or less than $45,295 married filing jointly) are eligible for a credit of up to $5,028.

• Families with one qualifying child who earn less than $35,463 (or less than $40,463 married filing jointly) are eligible for a credit of up to $3,043.

• Workers without a qualifying child who earn less than $13,440 (or less than $18,440 married filing jointly) are eligible for a credit of up to $457.

Another credit sometimes overlooked is the Child Tax Credit, which is up to $1,000 per qualifying child. For tax year 2009, the minimum income threshold needed to qualify for the Additional Child Tax Credit has been reduced from $12,050 to $3,000, so more families will be eligible.

The free tax preparation service is offered by partners of the EITC Taskforce, including United Way of Tucson and Southern Arizona. All tax preparers are trained volunteers. Fifteen sites will be open throughout Tucson and Pima County by the end of January 2010.

In 2009, the EITC Task Force prepared 5,727 tax returns in Pima County and an additional 2,278 throughout Southern Arizona for a total of 8,005 returns. Through these efforts, the coalition brought in $9.1 million in total tax refunds, $4.6 of which was from the EITC.

If you know anyone who would benefit, spread the word. Help low- and moderate-income working families and individuals keep more of what they earn.