Season Opener at the Work Station

E-filing is officially open, and tax season is officially underway! The Mobile Express celebrated the opening of the e-file portals by heading over to a tax clinic at The Work Station in The Plains in Athens County.  

Thanks to John Tyma and the staff at The Work Station, we had a fantastic clinic and were able to help 19 separate households file their state and federal income taxes. Our first submissions were a part of the flood of applications that hit the IRS portal upon its initial opening at 9:30 am.

The Work Station is a great community resource for people living in the Athens County area, offering free resume building, computer literacy classes, employment training and much more.  Additionally, The Work Station has a special focus on veterans, a connection that was reflected in John’s fantastic outreach efforts to veterans within the local community. It was thanks to these efforts that we had such a great turnout, and we can’t wait to return for another tax clinic in the near future!  

A Learning Experience

As mobile enrollment specialists on the Mobile Express, Daniel and I, like many of you, are currently making our way through the hurricane that is the 2013 tax filing season. As such, we get to work with a fantastic number of clients, some of whom have particularly intriguing situations in regards to their tax status.

Just today I worked with a young woman whose situation impressed upon me just how important it is for individuals to understand the tax forms their employers provide them with upon hiring. In this case, the young woman in question had recently begun working for an employer who had furnished her with a 1099-MISC instead of a standard W-2. This was the first time that she had filed such a form, so using The Benefit Bank was a great opportunity for her to learn about some of the major differences between the two forms.

In particular, she was surprised to find that she could make estimated tax payments throughout the year to avoid owing taxes at the end. She was also really interested that The Benefit Bank allows her to claim up to $5000 of business expenses incurred in the process of doing her job as deductions when filing a 1099-MISC. All in all, it seemed that working with The Benefit Bank was an extremely educational and empowering opportunity for this young woman, who felt that she came away from the experience knowing more about her tax documents than she ever had before! 

It’s All In The Cart

Lutheran Social Services Champion Avenue Food Pantry shopping cart.

While shopping for groceries, we often take for granted the choices we are able to make. By choosing their own food, clients at Lutheran Social Services and other choice food pantries are sure they are receiving food that they and their families need, enjoy, and will use. Choice pantries also benefit from reduced food waste, reduced preparation time, and the ability to identify needed inventory.

Seniors and Technology

While attending an event called Bethlehem on Broad, hosted by Broad St. United Methodist Church, I was reminded of some conflicting findings our team has recently come across as we began researching and identifying effective outreach strategies: Are seniors using technology? According to one gentleman, who was one of over 1,300 participants registered to receive a food-box full of what would become Christmas dinner, seniors are in fact using technology.

Having had some trouble with the printer we were using, I asked the gentleman if he had an email address I could use to send him another, more legible, copy of his application.  This one question lead to an entire conversation about how he used technology in his life; his email habits, the new printer he had just purchased, and how he found information about available services.

According to Anita Herbert and Leon Ginsberg, authors of Human Services for Older Adults: Concepts and Skills, mass media is an ineffective way of soliciting older adults (pg. 83).  Mass media could include anything from newspapers to social media sites like Facebook and Twitter.  Instead, the article suggests face-to-face outreach methods, such as door-to-door canvassing.

Being a self-diagnosed technology geek myself, I tend to disagree.  I see older folks using various forms of technology on a regular basis: smart phones, computers, social networking sites, blogs, and so on.  I believe these new methods of accessing information will only continue to grow in popularity with our aging community.

As our team dives further and further into our research we will begin to draw conclusions on this topic, but I am very curious to hear some of your thoughts on seniors and technology.  Are they using it? Does your organization or company use technology-based outreach strategies to target seniors? Have you had a specific experience that might provide some insight to our team? Please let me know – dhansen@ohiofoodbanks.org. 

Dig Deeper

I was recently reminded that the way in which we offer services to our clients has a huge impact on the likelihood of the client accessing those services. Here’s what happened:

Tyler and I were going about our typical routine, setting up our computers, printer, and work station when our host began to introduce The Ohio Benefit Bank as a visiting service provider. Nothing but blank stares.

Just to make sure everyone got the message, I walked the room one person at a time, introducing myself and asking if they had any questions about the programs for which we could help them apply. Finally a question: “Why do I only receive $16 in food stamps?” I was thrilled, not only because there was a question, but because I was prepared to answer this one. I responded, “It’s an income-based program. The minimum benefit amount is $16, but that should cover the basics: bread, milk, and eggs.” The conversation went from work to rent to hobbies, until I identified two additional benefits they were eligible for: HEAP and Golden Buckeye.

So what’s the point? Sometimes we can all be inclined to offer assistance, without really taking the time to listen to others. Dig Deeper! Have a conversation! Get to know their needs and the barriers they’re facing and you’ll be able to provide a much more meaningful intervention.