April 15th not as taxing for Dorchester residents

By Amy Carboneau

4/26/10

After another tireless tax season, volunteers at Codman Square Tech Center filed nearly 2,000 returns, providing a free service for low-income residents of Dorchester, as well as financial encouragement for the year ahead.

 Dotwell is a Dorchester non-profit that provided the free tax preparation offered to neighborhood residents who earned $49,000 or less in the past year.

Carine Noel has been a client at the clinic for four years. With the economy as it's been this year, Noel said she appreciated the service even more. "This year," she said, "every little penny counts."

Shauntell Foster is manager of the program at its two locations: Codman Square and Dorchester House. For the final week of taxes, she dressed professionally, in gray slacks and a navy blouse, and a genuine smile on her face. It was her second tax season here.

Last year, Foster counted a total of 1,647 tax returns filed at Codman Square alone, each of which she looked at personally. This year, she was up to 1,474 returns, with three days to go. She was still hoping to reach her goal of 2,000.

 "We do a lot of returns for individuals," said Foster. "But not only are we doing their returns and saving them a lot of money, we're also educating them."

The goal is education. Families should be able to move ahead, save money, open a bank account, or put a down payment on a house, Foster said. The goal, she said, is that they will understand these opportunities, and not become prey to dishonest lenders.

"Every person that I come across, that I teach something to, they're gonna teach someone else," Foster said. "They're gonna teach their neighbors and their friends and their family... and that's my goal, is to really have a financial healthy community."

"And you see the stories, and you hear the stories, year after year," said Foster.

Patrick Johnson, 47, has volunteered for eight consecutive years, and continues to adjust his routine each year for the four months of tax season. The financial analyst for Bank of America offers his free time every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday for at least two hours at a time.

"It's the people," said Johnson. "I see that this is really something that we're actually doing. It's tangible. And I've heard the myriad stories from people, how they have actually been benefited from having this service."

There are 28 other locations in Boston who offer free tax services as members of the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) coalition, which was put together by Mayor Thomas Menino in 2001. Codman Square was the original, and is now the largest. [See map below for 27 other locations.]

View Free Tax Preparation Services in Boston in a larger map

Since 2002, when Doreen Treacy first began it, the program has developed immensely. "There were 77 returns the first year," said Treacy. "And every one of them was excruciating."

Treacy, who is now the Director of CivicHealth and Site Planning for both Codman Square and Dorchester House, agrees with Foster about financial awareness being the larger factor.

"We need to move to a bigger conversation about financial health,"  Treacy said.

 That is exactly what Dotwell is actively pursuing through its tax preparation site, credit report checks, community college courses, and credit counseling, all of which are also free.

By offering a breadth of services - college courses, transportation to and from class, childcare - Foster said they are doing what they can to extend a hand of encouragement.

"We want to eliminate as many boundaries as we can," she said.

So far, residents are responding, and keep coming back year after year.

Jillian Smith, 25, showed up for her third year. She first came as a student, when she was confused by how to calculate scholarship funds and schoolbooks. "I was looking for some

"It's a good service," said Smith. "It's been a pretty positive experience.... A lot of people don't always know about the sources the city has to offer."

Fellow client, Noel, also described her experience as beneficial. "If you have questions," said Noel, "they answer them." They help give answers on how to improve credit score, how to find lower rates, how to better use credit cards, she said.

"I'll be coming here, until they say you no longer can do it," Noel said.

Though the community responds well to the tax clinic, Foster makes it a point to be involved year-round with her clients. "We're here in this community, and we're not goin anywhere after April 15^th," she says. "We build that relationship with them so they know they can come in at any time and one of us will be here."