The weather hasn't exactly been cooperative, but there's been enough of a thaw to allow the van to make more long distant trips in Ohio to help people complete their taxes. There have been many successes.
Last Thursday in Cleveland I performed a triple whammy for a client: 2009 taxes, 2008 back taxes, and a food stamp application. This client had been unemployed and desperate for money. Now she was getting four refunds (two federal, two state), and the opportunity to receive another $200 a month in food for the foreseeable future.
On February 13 in Maumee (a Toledo suburb), one of our VISTAs, Danielle Gray, and I took in four clients each and together brought almost $15,000 into that community. Fifteen thousand dollars! And that was only between the two of us. There were other counselors taking in clients and all of us helped Maumee citizens recoup $32,000 in taxes. Talk about stimulating the economy!
Just yesterday I was in Caldwell, the county seat of Noble County. I don't get to make a lot of trips to Southeast Ohio, which is a shame. It's nice seeing the hills every now and then. It's also nice having a client who owed money to the IRS from a previous tax return (not filled out with Benefit Bank assistance, obviously) get a $7,000 return for her 2008 and 2009 taxes. This client was so discouraged by the tax process because of a prior mistake. Now she's excited about getting money in the bank, paying off her IRS debt, and helping her teenage daughter get a car. That was the only client I personally helped in Caldwell, but the impact was extraordinary.
These are just three of the success stories I've witnessed and it doesn't even take into account the events that Erin has gone on without me. It's clear that the Ohio Benefit Bank is fulfilling a need in every community in Ohio. And that need has made the van a huge success this month. We are on a roll.
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