Posted on February 7, 2006

print   e-mail

Clinton Foundation and Partners to Provide Tax Screening, Filing Services for Katrina Survivors

Former president Bill Clinton has announced that his foundation's Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) Awareness Program will support the Washington, D.C.-based ACORN Institute's Katrina Benefits Access Project and Operation HOPE's Project Restore HOPE.

The EITC program will operate in ten cities directly affected by Hurricane Katrina or with large numbers of Katrina survivors: Birmingham, Alabama; Little Rock, Arkansas; Atlanta, Georgia; Baton Rouge, Lake Charles, and New Orleans, Louisiana; Jackson, Mississippi; and Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio, Texas. As a program partner, the ACORN Institute will provide EITC screening and free tax preparation services to hurricane victims living in hotels, apartment complexes, FEMA relief sites, and other temporary accommodations. Mobile units will also provide screening and free tax preparation services to help individuals access federal and state benefits programs for which they qualify.

With support from the Little Rock-based foundation, Project Restore HOPE will incorporate EITC outreach and free tax filing services into its comprehensive economic counseling and financial case-management services for Katrina victims; those services address such issues as credit management, deferring mortgage payments, obtaining copies of lost financial records, and insurance claim assistance. Members of the corporate community, including Deutsche Bank, E*Trade Financial, the First American Corporation, and H&R Block, have also pledged to commit resources to the project.

"If you earn under $35,000 a year and you're not claiming your Earned Income Tax Credit, then you're...throwing away your hard earned money," said Clinton. "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."

“Announcement of Earned Income Tax Credit Awareness Program to Assist Hurricane Katrina Survivors.” Clinton Foundation Press Release 2/03/06.

Primary Subject: Philanthropy and Voluntarism
Location(s): Alabama, Arkansas, Atlanta, Baton Rouge, Birmingham, Dallas, Georgia, Houston, Jackson, Lake Charles, Little Rock, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Orleans, San Antonio, Texas

FC008678