Eitc_announcement_with_former_president_ Clinton Foundation to work with ACORN, Operation Hope and Leading Financial Services Companies in this effort

Former President Bill Clinton announced today his foundation’s Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) Awareness Program, which will support the ACORN Institute’s (ACORN) Katrina Benefits Access Project and Operation HOPE’s Project Restore HOPE.

“Can you imagine working all week and instead of cashing your paycheck, you rip it up?” President Clinton said

at the announcement. “If you earn under $35,000 a year and you’re not claiming your Earned Income Tax Credit, then you’re doing just that—throwing away your hard earned money. 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.”

President_clinton_at_eitc_announcementClinton_foundationlogoAs a partner in the EITC Program, ACORN’s Katrina Benefits Access Project will provide EITC screening and free tax preparation services to victims of Hurricane Katrina. This grassroots outreach campaign will target the hotels, apartment complexes, FEMA relief sites, disaster assistance centers and others places where survivors are living. Mobile units will provide on-the-spot tax EITC screening and free tax preparation services. The mobile units and ACORN’s free tax preparation sites will also help Katrina survivors access all of the federal and state benefits programs for which they qualify. The program will operate in ten cities directly affected by Hurricane Katrina or with large numbers of Katrina survivors: Birmingham, AL; Little Rock, AR; Atlanta, GA; Baton Rouge, LA; Lake Charles, LA; New Orleans, LA; Jackson, MS; Dallas, TX; Houston, TX; and San Antonio, TX.

“EITC gives low income people in our communities what they need most–-the resources to take care of their families and better their lives,” said ACORN President Maude Hurd. “This year, Katrina survivors are in special need of both good information about the EITC and the funds to help rebuild their lives. We are extremely pleased that we can work with the Clinton Foundation to help displaced families across the country.”

Through its work with Operation HOPE, the Clinton Foundation is will support Project Restore HOPE in which Operation HOPE will incorporate EITC outreach and free tax filing services into Project Restore HOPE, a comprehensive economic counseling and financial case management service helping Hurricane Katrina victims to address issues such as credit management, deferring mortgage payments, obtaining copies of destroyed financial records and insurance claim assistance. The Clinton Foundation will also support the hiring of two full time case workers to provide services to 200 families in the Forest Heights community of Gulfport, Mississippi, where President Clinton visited in October 2005. Various private sector groups are also involved in this effort to mobilize support and President Clinton announced some of these commitments today.

“At Operation HOPE our goal is to help the devastated citizens of the Gulf Coast get stabilized and back on their feet financially, and this EITC awareness program is a monumental step toward that,” said John Bryant, chairman and CEO of Operation HOPE. “I am deeply grateful to the Clinton Foundation, ACORN, and the financial services firms who have stepped up today to be a part of this initiative, and I challenge others out there to help us see through the economic recovery of the poor and underserved victims of disaster in America. We have 1,000 volunteers committed now; we need at least 4,000 more.”

Several representatives from the corporate community attended the announcement and committed resources to the effort. Companies such as Deutsche Bank, E*Trade Financial, The First American Corporation, and H&R Block have committed more than 1,500 volunteers with a financial background to Project Restore HOPE. The New York Bankers Association will encourage its members, which includes 13 of the top 30 commercial banks in the nation, as well as regional banks and over 100 community banks to commit volunteers. Microsoft has also deployed a custom economic case management system enabling volunteers to serve clients remotely. In addition to volunteers, H&R Block is providing free tax preparation and EITC filing to 5,000 Project Restore HOPE clients and unlimited free EITC filing and free IRA and savings accounts for clients as well.

President Clinton has asked Clinton Foundation staff and interns to volunteer with local EITC programs in Boston, Massachusetts; Little Rock, Arkansas; and New York, New York, where the Clinton Foundation offices are located.

**More resources on EITC information will be available at the EITC Resource Center throughout tax season at the Clinton Foundation website www.clintonfoundation.org**

About the Clinton Foundation:

The mission of the William J. Clinton Foundation is to strengthen the capacity of people in the United States and throughout the world to meet the challenges of global interdependence. To advance this mission, the Clinton Foundation has developed programs and partnerships in the following areas: Health Security with a focus on HIV/AIDS; Economic Empowerment; Leadership Development and Citizen Service; Racial, Ethnic and Religious Reconciliation.

While in office, President Clinton doubled the EITC, giving more than 15 million working families a tax cut. In 1998 alone, the EITC lifted more than 4 million people – and more than 2 million children – out of poverty.

The Clinton Foundation is committed to continuing this and making sure all eligible Americans are aware of the EITC and how to take advantage of it. Working with ACORN, Operation HOPE, and corporate participants, the Clinton Foundation will support their programs and promote taking advantage of the EITC. For m
ore information, please visit: http://www.clintonfoundation.org

About ACORN:

ACORN (the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now) is the nation’s largest community organization of low- and moderate-income families, with over 200,000 member families organized into 800 neighborhood chapters in 99 cities across the country. Since 1970 ACORN has taken action and won victories on issues of concern to our members, including better housing for first time homebuyers and tenants, living wages for low-wage workers, more investment in our communities from banks and governments, and better public schools.

Over the past five years, ACORN has become a national leader in grassroots education efforts targeting EITC eligible taxpayers. In 2005, ACORN worked with the IRS Volunteer Income Tax Preparation (VITA) program to run tax preparation centers in 43 cities, filing tax returns for nearly 16,000 low-income families, and helping them claim more than $9.5 million in EITC. This year, ACORN has partnered with the IRS Volunteer Income Tax Preparation program to run ACORN tax preparation centers and outreach programs in 75 cities.

In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, ACORN organized the ACORN Katrina Survivors Association, the first nationwide organization of families displaced from New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. With over 5,000 members in several cities the ACORN Katrina Survivors Association works for more effective relief efforts and a voice for survivors in the rebuilding process. Learn more at www.acorn.org.

About Project Restore HOPE:

Managed through Operation HOPE’s emergency preparedness and recovery division HOPE Coalition America, a partner with FEMA, Project Restore HOPE provides free financial counseling, assistance and resources to disaster victims through one-on-one counseling in affected communities, at disaster recovery centers, online via virtual case management and over the phone from toll-free “financial help line” call centers, which people can access by calling 1-888-388-HOPE.

Services provided by HOPE Corps volunteers for disaster victims include, but are not limited to:

  • Help obtaining lost or destroyed financial documents and personal identification
  • Emergency budget guidance
  • Emergency credit management
  • Assistance with deferring mortgage payments
  • Assistance with working with creditors
  • Referrals to government or private agencies
  • Insurance claims assistance

To date Project Restore HOPE has recruited more than 1,000 HOPE Corps volunteers from the financial services industry, has served more than 4,200 victims of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and disbursed more than $115,000 to hurricane victims (including families of Forrest Heights in Gulfport, Miss.) Operation HOPE aims to triple those numbers in the next six months.

For more information contact:

Clinton Foundation New York Office – Ms. Sarah Hamilton – 212.348.0360

www.clintonfoundation.org

ACORN – Ms. Allison Conyers – 202.547.2500

Katrina survivors and others can learn more by calling the ACORN Hurricane Hotline at 1-800-790-2290 or visiting www.taxprep.acorn.org to find a local ACORN Tax Preparation and Benefits Access Center.

Operation HOPE – Ms. Alison Cahill, Oorvis Communications/Operation HOPE – 917.653.7592

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