VITA Site Direct Assistance
As part of the Colorado Asset Growth Project, there is direct assistance available to rural VITA sites of Colorado.
We appreciate you taking the time to review the information on this page before applying for assistance.
A Colorado Community Action Association Program
Go Directly to the Applications <><><><><><><> Go Directly to the Project Reports
The Colorado Asset Growth Project invites you to apply for financial assistance; primarily for expanding the use of your Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Site. We would really like to increase site use by low-income clients eligible for Earned Income Tax Credits and Child Tax Credits. (See Tax Year 2006 Project Results)
Assistance areas identified that may help increase EITC filings at your VITA site are:
- Shredders
- Flash Drives
- Locking Cabinets
- Paper and Supplies
- Mileage for Volunteers
- Volunteer Recognition
You are not required to request monies for all these items or only for these items. Although funding is limited, we will be glad to work with you on your individual site needs as we are able. Even if our Project funding can not meet all your needs, maybe we can help find a referral source for your requests.
In accepting this funding assistance, we would also like you to provide a level of “Financial Education” for your clients. To quickly learn more about financial education, you may visit our web page at: http://www.coloradoruralassetgrowth.org/finance%20ed.html
We see your VITA sites participation in some form of Financial Education as an important factor in the awarding of Assistance Funds! Links to Financial Education Resources may be found at: http://www.coloradoruralassetgrowth.org/finance%20ed%20resources.html
Building wealth requires having the right information, planning and making good choices. Ideally, every VITA site could have Financial Personal Educator on site. Such a person could review with Earned Income Tax Credit filers, or other site participants their current understanding of wealth development and make related recommendations as to their use of their EITC refund. This model is being used successfully in many sites. Many banks have their own financial education programs, and are very willing to collaborate with VITA sites as to providing information and services. An account representative, or financial planner can often be recruited from a local financial institution. It is an advantage to both the client and a bank, to have someone present that can open "instant" bank accounts and arrange for the direct deposit of EITC refunds.
Since the funding available is “pass through grant money”, we are required to ask for a formal application process and for a follow-up report. We are attempting to keep it as simple as possible and expect the depth of your application to be appropriate for the amount of funding you are requesting.
We sincerely hope that you will take advantage of this opportunity. We are looking for a prompt response so that we can get the funding to you for use in the 2007 tax filing season. Of course I am available to answer questions, or to provide any assistance in applying. Rob Sawyer, ED, Colorado Community Action Association, Tel: 303-949-9934 or SawyerAndCCAA@earthlink.net
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Below are links to the Application:
PREFERRED APPLICATION METHOD: VITA Site Financial Assistance Application Form & a Budget Sheet: (Adobe Acrobat Fill in Form - works with Adobe Acrobat Reader/Professional version 5 or better) - Sends form data directly to Rob Sawyer, when you press the "Submit by E-mail" button on page 2 of the application.
ALTERNATE PREFERRED METHOD: VITA Site Financial Assistance Application: Form as MS Word Document (In Word Table format for easy fill-in).
Vita Site Financial Assistance Application Form Print Document (Opens with Adobe Reader/Professional Ver. 5 or better for printing out and filing out by hand.
Download latest version of Acrobat Reader here: (You may not want to download the "Photoshop Album Starter Edition" by un checking the box)
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VITA Site final report form and Actual Expense Sheet: Which needs to be completed within one month of your final VITA activity or May 15th and returned to us.
PREFERRED REPORT METHOD: VITA Site Assistance Final Report (Adobe Acrobat Fill in Form - works with Adobe Acrobat Reader/Professional version 5 or better) - Sends form data directly to Rob Sawyer, when you press the "Submit by E-mail" button on page 2 of the application.
ALTERNATE PREFERRED METHOD: VITA Site Assistance Final Report: Form as MS Word Document (In Word Table format for easy fill-in).
Vita Site Final Report: Document (Opens with Adobe Reader/Professional Ver. 5 or better for printing out and filing out by hand.
A sample “Letter of Agreement” between your agency and Colorado Community Action Association (CCAA), the parent organization for the project. This letter will be customized to our needs, upon approval of your application.
Download latest version of Acrobat Reader here: (You may not want to download the "Photoshop Album Starter Edition" by un checking the box)
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