Clinton Foundation and Partners Provide Tax Screening,
Filing Services for Katrina Survivors (2/07/06)
Former president Bill Clinton has announced that his foundation's Earned
Income Tax Credit (EITC) Awareness Program will support the Washington,
D.C.-based ACORN Institute's ( http://acorninstitute.org/ ) Katrina
Benefits Access Project and Operation HOPE's http://www.operationhope.org
Project Restore HOPE.
The EITC program will operate in ten cities directly affected by Hurricane
Katrina or with large numbers of Katrina survivors: Birmingham, Alabama;
Little Rock, Arkansas; Atlanta, Georgia; Baton Rouge, Lake Charles, and
New Orleans, Louisiana; Jackson, Mississippi; and Dallas, Houston, and
San
Antonio, Texas. As a program partner, the ACORN Institute will provide
EITC
screening and free tax preparation services to hurricane victims living
in
hotels, apartment complexes, FEMA relief sites, and other temporary
accommodations. Mobile units will also provide screening and free tax
preparation services to help individuals access federal and state benefits
programs for which they qualify.
With support from the Little Rock-based foundation, Project Restore HOPE
will incorporate EITC outreach and free tax filing services into its
comprehensive economic counseling and financial case-management services
for Katrina victims; those services address such issues as credit
management, deferring mortgage payments, obtaining copies of lost financial
records, and insurance claim assistance. Members of the corporate
community, including Deutsche Bank, E*Trade Financial, the First American
Corporation, and H&R Block, have also pledged to commit resources to
the
project.
"If you earn under $35,000 a year and you're not claiming your Earned
Income Tax Credit, then you're...throwing away your hard earned money,"
said Clinton. "The main idea of EITC is still the old idea of the
American
Dream, that if you work hard and play by the rules, you ought to have a
decent life and a chance for your children to have a better one. I hope
this initiative helps more Americans achieve their dreams and reaches those
Americans whose lives were shattered by last year's hurricanes."
"Announcement of Earned Income Tax Credit Awareness Program to Assist
Hurricane Katrina Survivors."
Clinton Foundation Press Release 2/03/06.
http://fconline.fdncenter.org/pnd/10000739/story