$52,212 in refunds!

For the Tax Clinic at OCS on January 29th, OBB tax counselors returned 

$52,512 in refunds to Lorain County residents

5 hard-working counselors assisted 20 people. 16 returns were prepared, and only 3 returns owed taxes.  The net profit to Lorain County is $51,292.

Thank you, thank you, thank you:

Beth and Bev for writing and signing off on all the VISTA paperwork

Claudine for giving the program such a brilliant beginning and returning today to serve as a tax counselor

Linda and Kathy for letting Oberlin Community Services be a part of this

Greer and Sam for the OBB technical, factual, and emotional support

Kevin and Megan for making their WT project to hang posters everywhere, research poverty, and educate their fellow citizens about taxes

Rachel for continuing her OBB journey after her private reading

Sheila for calling to volunteer when she saw the press release (and spending 38 minutes on hold to the IRS...)

Mary Anne for sharing her list of PR contacts with me

Two CSWSP openings!

#1
The City of Oberlin is seeking a Volunteer Developer Program Intern. The Volunteer Program Developer assists the City Manager and various department heads in developing a City volunteer program to assist City operations and services, including researching and writing policies and procedures. The Intern may perform other various administrative duties and provides additional support as needed or assigned.
The Intern shall utilize sound judgment, shall be committed to the mission, vision and values of the City and demonstrate ethical conduct, community stewardship, individual initiative and responsive service. The Intern shall demonstrate effective performance through clear, concise communication; collaboration; personal accountability; and responsibility.
Minimum Qualifications: The position may require successful completion of additional pre-employment procedures including but not limited to drug testing and background investigation. An individual who poses a direct threat to himself/herself or others in the workplace will be deemed not qualified for this position.
Distinguishing Features: Working under the immediate supervision of the City Manager's staff, standard assignments are well-defined and initially are reviewed as work proceeds; however, as the Intern’s competence increases, work is done more independently and reviewed upon completion and/or during conferences. Duties may also require the employee to be available for morning and evening meetings. The Intern may be assigned to a department on a project basis.
The work will require the ability to work independently, along with possessing interpersonal skills, initiative and diplomacy.
Rate of pay $8 per hour. NOTE: This position requires the student be enrolled in the FEDERAL WORK STUDY program.
Please contact Darlene Colaso (440-775-7205) at dcolaso@cityofoberlin.com for a complete job description, or you may go to the City website (under the Human Resources tab at www.cityofoberlin.com an download and complete an Employment Application). Position open until filled.

_________________________________________________________________________

#2

Oberlin Early Childhood Center
Oberlin College Work Study Job Description

Job Title: Accreditation Assistant
Responsible to: Executive Director
Hours: Flexible, must be able to work a minimum of 4 hours per week, may be able to work from home
at times.
Hourly Wage: Based on experience

ORGANIZATION DESCRIPTION
Oberlin Early Childhood Center is a not-for-profit organization that provides early care and education to
100 children ages 6 weeks through 5 years of age.

JOB SUMMARY
Responsible for collecting surveys from families, compiling the information, creating a program plan, and
developing a program portfolio.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES
OECC has been accredited through the National Association of Early Childhood Programs since 1995.
Since then the accreditation standards and process has been revised. There are three main components to
this position.
1. Collecting surveys from families and teaching staff
2. Compile results of survey and assist in creating a performance improvement plan
3. Develop a system for the center portfolio and begin to collect artifacts to show evidence of the
standard being met

ONGOING DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
• Promotes a positive image by representing the center in a courteous, professional manner
• Adheres to all policies and procedures in the staff handbook and parent handbook
• Keep confidential all information regarding the Center including staff, children and families
• Promotes a team approach within the center
• Works in a family-centered partnership with the families served
• Practices safe work habits and contributes to ensuring a safe and healthy work environment

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS:
•
Proficient in Microsoft Word, Excel, Publisher (or other publishing programs)
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills
• Great organizational skills
• Dependable and punctual
• Ability to work independently
• Ability to manage multiple tasks
• Display sincere and enthusiastic interest in working with all children and families
• Act in a professional manner and maintain confidentiality of families

This job description is not intended to be a complete list of all responsibilities, duties or skills.
It is subject to review and change in accordance with the needs of
Oberlin Early Childhood Center.
January 18, 2011

Please contact: Jennifer Harris, Ph.D. - jharris@oberlinearlychildhood.org

Make my day

I just had an unexpected call from an OBB tax counselor from last year who saw my press release in the paper....and she just wanted to see if I needed any help at my tax clinics.  How AMAZING is that?  In my experienced tax counselors don't just fall from the sky (esecially in a college town where many tax counselors eventually graduate from college and move away), but this is about as close as you can come.  Amazing bit of luck!

Etiquette

Sarah and I have decided to put together a presentation on office etiquette for our Winter Term students, since we're supposed to be helping them develop professionally.  Since it's a reasonably boring topic ("Here is a list of advice") I'm trolling the internet for some goofy pictures to enhance the presentation.

As an artist, I'm a pretty big believer in using images to communicate and entertain.  I like to include comics and doodles on all my meeting agendas; it's always nice to start the meeting with a laugh and share some of the work that inspires me.  I have found my life to be richer when I actively include making art and looking at art in my daily activities, so it has been a challenge translating this to the work environment so most of it has happened during the off-hours.  I love when small projects like  these allow me to do for work what I do for fun.

Dave Kellet doodle, of Sheldon fame.  www.sheldoncomics.com

Media Blitz

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:  1/19/2011

  

Free Tax Assistance to Local Residents

Three free tax clinics to be held at Oberlin Community Services January 29^th, February 19^th, and March 19^th

OBERLIN, OH – Oberlin Community Services is offering free federal and state tax filing to the residents of southern Lorain County through a partnership between the Second Harvest Foodbank of North Central Ohio and Oberlin College’s Bonner Center for Service and Learning (CSL). Ondrea Keith, an AmeriCorps* VISTA hosted by the Bonner CSL, has organized three tax clinics and recruited both college students and community members to serve as volunteer tax counselors. Ms. Keith serves as a community trainer for the Ohio Benefit Bank (OBB), an Internet-based program that connects low- and moderate-income Ohioans with access to tax filing assistance and work supports, such as food assistance and the Home Energy Assistance Program. The OBB is a joint collaboration between the Ohio Association of Second Harvest Foodbanks and the Governor’s Office of Faith-based and Community Initiatives.

Locally, Oberlin Community Services is one of over 1,180 OBB sites across Ohio that uses the program to offer clients assistance applying for work support programs in addition to tax help. In 2010, the first year of the tax-season partnership between OBB and Oberlin Community Services, three tax clinics helped 54 residents of Lorain County claim over $76,000 in tax refunds.

OBB tax counselors, who are trained Oberlin College and local community volunteers, will use The OBB program to screen for different tax credits, like Earned Income Credit, Child Tax Credits, and Education Credits.  The service is available for free to most Ohioans with annual household income of less than $60,000.

Linda Arbogast, executive director of Oberlin Community Services said of last year’s tax clinics, “This is a wonderful service to our clients.  They are able to have their taxes done in our building, a place that they feel comfortable coming to for assistance of many types.  And, they work with helpful, friendly volunteers who are working only to help them get the most out of their returns.  At a time when money is hard to come by, saving a few hundred dollars by not having to pay a tax preparer can make a big difference to a family.”

A grant from the Ohio Association of Second Harvest Foodbanks, home of The Ohio Benefit Bank paid for new tables for Oberlin Community Services, allowing tax counselors to have desks on which to set up their laptops.  Last year an Ohio Benefit Bank grant provided a wireless printer.   

The Free Community Tax Clinics of 2011 will be held at Oberlin Community Services on Saturday January 29^th, February 19^th, and March 19^th from 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. To make an appointment, or for more information call Ondrea Keith at 440.935.7259.  

CSWSP opening!

Have a federal work-study award?  Keep reading....

The City of Oberlin is seeking a Volunteer Deeloper Program Intern. The Volunteer Program Developer assists the City Manager and various department heads in developing a City volunteer program to assist City operations and services, including researching and writing policies and procedures. The Intern may perform other various administrative duties and provides additional support as needed or assigned.

The Intern shall utilize sound judgment, shall be committed to the mission, vision and values of the City and demonstrate ethical conduct, community stewardship, individual initiative and responsive service. The Intern shall demonstrate effective performance through clear, concise communication; collaboration; personal accountability; and responsibility.

Minimum Qualifications: The position may require successful completion of additional pre-employment procedures including but not limited to drug testing and background investigation. An individual who poses a direct threat to himself/herself or others in the workplace will be deemed not qualified for this position.

Distinguishing Features: Working under the immediate supervision of the City Manager's staff, standard assignments are well-defined and initially are reviewed as work proceeds; however, as the Intern’s competence increases, work is done more independently and reviewed upon completion and/or during conferences. Duties may also require the employee to be available for morning and evening meetings. The Intern may be assigned to a department on a project basis.

The work will require the ability to work independently, along with possessing interpersonal skills, initiative and diplomacy. 

Please contact Darlene Colaso (440-775-7205) at dcolaso@cityofoberlin.com for a complete job description, or you may go to the City website (under the Human Resources tab at www.cityofoberlin.com an download and complete an Employment Application). Position open until filled.

Award: The Carnegie Classification

Exciting news!  Oberlin College has been awarded the Carnegie Classification for its commitment to community service.  Here is the official press release.  This is quite an honor, because they do not hand out these awards to anyone.

I'm very happy I can tell people about this now.  Beth (Director of the BCSL) started working on the application in the summer; helping Claudine compile the data and info for it was actually one of my first tasks as a VISTA.  The final application detailed all aspects of community engagement at OC.  Beth gets a big round of applause for being the one who did the bulk of the work on the application, since it's final form was 40 single-spaced pages.

The civic engagement/community service movement in higher education is fairly new, and awards like these are helping to shape it by what requirements they have for applicants.  It's cool to be in such a new field that people are still haggling over the definitions of things; just this morning I drove Beth to the airport so she could fly to Washington D.C. to talk about these things.  Exciting times!

Snowy updates

Today the BCSL staff gathered in Wilder 215 (with baklava from the recently opened Aladdin's that is replacing Java Zone) for good conversation, good people, and good food (Agave!).  We used the time to reflect on what the BCSL does well and what we would like to improve on in the context of the BCSL strategic plan, which included looking at what cool community service related things other colleges and universities are doing across the nation.  We also talked about listening and the importance of dialog in light of the recent political shootings.

Other cool things:

Projects for Peace is accepting applications:  http://www.davisprojectsforpeace.org/ Have an idea for a project that will make the world a better place?  This organization can give you funds!

The Big Read in Oberlin is hosting a series of movie screenings during January around "Censorship, Media Control, and Falsehood in the Movies"  More info at the Big Read Blog.

Over the last weekend, Oberlin College welcomed Marcin Jakubowski and Open Source Ecology for a presentation in the Environmental Studies Buildling.  Read his blog post on all the cool connections he made at Oberlin.

19 days

Today I trained  students on taxes using the OBB software.  Tomorrow we are touring the Second Harvest Foodbank of North Central Ohio, meeting Sam, and beginning to plan hard-core for tax season.  I am both excited to see the large refunds we are able to return to people and intimidated by all the tax forms.  Taxes are complicated.  When they called us down to Columbus to train us on taxes, they made us do one of the simulations by hand to appreciate all the work the OBB software does for us.  When it's just for funsies and mistakes aren't critical, it was rather pleasant to figure out all the credits and deductions, sort of like a game.  But this January it's going to be real people and real money....I can only be immensely grateful that the OBB software is so thorough and does the math for me.

Only 19 days until the first tax clinic.....

Watch Out World

Hello from Vicki's desk at the BCSL!  Today I am training my awesome WT students, K. and M., in benefits in the OBB software.  Monday is tax training, and then we start hard-core planning for tax-season and our tax clinics.  We have a lot of plans and enthusiasm, yay!

WT students, remember the BCSL WT Reflection Dinners!  Free tasty food, awesome speakers every Thursday in January 5:30-7:30 p.m. in Wilder 115.  This year our theme is the Oberlin Project.  Tell us you're coming by filling out the nifty RSVP form on www.oberlin.edu/bcsl.

Happy New Year!

Hello from Lakewood, where I'm hanging out with the other VISTAs in the area who do Benefit Bank outreach and training.  Just about the only things we talk about are tax season: tax clinics, OBB tax trainings, volunteer recruitment.  We started planning several months in advance, but tax season still seems a LOT closer from this side of the holiday break.  These next few months are going to be a whirlwind of activity.  Completely nutty, but it should be fun!  I've got three tax clinics planned for Oberlin: January 29th, February 19th, and March 19th.  I've begun advertising at food distributions and tomorrow I start meeting with the students who signed up to help me for WT.

Ready, set, go!