Opportunities for Working Families

“Helping You Help Others”

EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITY CENTERS HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE Original Centers 4 Urban Centers (1966) 7 Cooperative Colleges (1969) Merger Educational Opportunity Centers (1973) Growth and Expansion 2 New Urban Centers (1985-1986) 4 SUNY College Outreach and Recruitment Components 1987

TODAY’S EOCs

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The network of Educational Opportunity Centers represents a major effort by the State University to meet the educational and vocational needs of economically disadvantaged persons Under the management of UCAWD, there are ten EOCs and two outreach centers; 38 ATTAIN Labs and a number of Bridge Initiatives.

Our system of institutions and programs span from Long Island to Buffalo. Statewide, we average an unduplicated student enrollment of 12,693

EOC CHARACTERISTICS Vibrant, Dynamic Learning Communities • Deliver Comprehensive , community-based academic and workforce development programs • Provide wrap-around supportive services • Afford access to further education and employment Programs are geared to grow and adapt to the changing environments in which they operate, while serving as a readily accessible first step toward the attainment of educational and/or vocational objectives and ultimate self-sufficiency.

KEY PARTNERS Key Partners Public Schools

Host Campuses

• Buffalo/Niagara Public Schools

Governmental Agencies • NYS Legislature • STATE ED • OTDA • DOL

• Erie Community College • Niagara Community College • Buffalo State College

Buffalo Educational Opportunity Center Community Based Organizations Business and Industry • M&T Bank • Bank of America • Citigroup • Microsoft Corp. • Turbo Tax Intuit • National Work Readiness

• Buffalo Urban League • Buffalo United Way

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HISTORY OF TAX SERVICE BUFFALO •

Will mark the seventh year of providing VITA Free Tax service to Buffalo and Erie County community to low-income families in order to: Increase the number of eligible tax filers who receive the Earned Income Tax Credit and the Child Tax Credit; and Provide asset development opportunities to low-income families

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Turbo Tax Freedom Edition partnership merged in 2010, a partnership between the IRS (www.freefile.irs.gov) and the electronic tax software industry Intuit. The program started in MidMarch, 2010 and enabled eligible taxpayers to electronically prepare and e-file their federal and New York State income tax returns for free, and help taxpayers claim all the tax deductions and credits to which they are entitled.

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Another strong partnership exists with M&T Bank. With the economy on the road to recovery (we hope!), M&T bank have established account openings with our Tax Services. Individuals can get up to $100 bonus for opening selected checking account with qualified direct deposit. This is a great deal for new M&T bank customers.

Significant Growth Over the past 7 years, Educational Opportunity Center at University at Buffalo has been an intricate part of the tax program in the Buffalo community. FREE FILE TAX ASSISTANCE

Significant Growth Over the past 2 years, our partnership with Intuit Turbo Tax has emerged. TURBO TAX FREEDOM EDITION

New Partnership Emergence of New Partnership. M&T Bank

80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Current Year

Buffalo Communities Served The result indicates the ethnicity of Buffalo community residents who filed income taxes.

How the Community Heard about FREE Tax Service  28% of filers found out about the Free Tax site via newspaper ads, TV, radio, flyers, or posters.  22% of filers learned about the Free Tax site because they had received tax preparation services at the same site during the previous year.  Word of mouth proved to be the most significant manner in which people heard about the Free Tax site, as 34% of filers heard about the site via family, friends, or another person.  16% of filers were first time.

Bank account openings  30% of filers during the 2010 tax year, utilized the service of M&T Bank Account openings  54% of filers had either a checking or saving account or, or both.  During the 2010 tax year, 16% of filers lacked any back account. Of this 16 percent, 6% of filers did not have an account but wanted one, while nearly 10% of filers felt they did not qualify to have an account.

Do we have an enthusiastic, committed, supportive staff?  The key to a successful program is staff. The staff members who are committed and provide great customer service to the community at large  Involvement begins with training in October and lasts through the end of the tax season in April.

Do we want to offer community services, extending the value to our community?

 The continuing quality of University at Buffalo Educational Opportunity Center is based upon the support of our community. Free Tax Service is an excellent way to thank the community for its support and extend the Center’s value to the community. It also encourages individuals who might otherwise not have the opportunity to come inside an educational institution and visit for themselves.  This exposure goes a long way toward building positive community relationships and ongoing support. This will connect students to programming and allows adult learners to engage in an educational environment relative to educational programs……

Now That We’re Committed: Planning the Timeline and Milestones  Volunteers attend training prior to start of tax season. At the end of training, volunteers must pass a test to become certified.  Site Coordinator prepares tax site and coordinates continuous meetings with key partners  Tax Site prepares and submits Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with site location and operating hours  Coordination, Computer Integration, publicity and outreach: Secure the hardware, software installation and internet connectivity to conduct the program;  Marketing/Outreach plan will take place to introduce the new site and hours of operations to the community via flyers and general information received from Key Partners  Open for Business to Community

Changing Lives – Impact Stories  A young lady who had not completed her taxes for three years was in fear of having to pay an unimaginable amount to the government but she actually received a refund of $4,500, after filing overdue taxes. She had recently lost her son to violence, so the money helped to her to get back on her feet after being out of work for some time.  A woman living in a motel with her niece for over a year could not afford to get into a house because she didn’t have money for first and last months rent and utility deposits. With the Child Tax Credit and EITC she received over $6,000 back as a tax refund and was able to find a house and also buy some furniture.  A single-parent of 2 children had not filed taxes since her divorce. After filing her taxes from 2007-2009 saving her hundreds of dollars on fees and more importantly a refund of over $8,500 which helped her payoff all her debts and open a savings account.

Changing Lives – Impact Stories  A woman who had paid $300 to have her taxes done, had her return rejected because someone else had falsely claimed her child as a dependent. The paid preparer refused to correct it because ‘it was her fault.’ She came to the our site for assistance. We filed an amended tax return and found additional errors in the return that resulted in a refund of $3,000.  A woman, who previously had her taxes done by a paid preparer, received a refund of $2,700. She came to our Free Tax site prepared to pay the preparer for filing her 2010 taxes (based on her experience with the paid preparer). When she was told that the service was free and all the money was hers, she started to cry and said that she had always been charged a big fee and now she could afford to buy a car.

THANK YOU