Real Economic Impact Tour Building Economic Futures for Americans with Disabilities

Real Economic Impact Tour

Indianapolis, Indiana

Contact Information:

If you, your business, or organization are interested in becoming a part of the Disability Initiative Workgroup, please contact Judy Stengel of the National Disability Institute at .

If you are already a member of the Disability Initiative Workgroup and have questions regarding the IRS participation, then please contact Tax Specialist Kate McNight at .

Disability Initiative Workgroup Members

Goodwill

Goodwill is a partner in the Indianapolis Asset Building Campaign. Several local Goodwill sites host free tax preparation days for their employees and some clients. EITC information is disseminated to employees and customers. The local Goodwill organization coordinates two relatively new alternative high schools.

Easter Seals Crossroads: http://crossroads.easterseals.com/site/PageServer?pagename=INCN_homepage

Easter Seals Crossroads is a partner in the Indianapolis Asset Building Campaign. They have invited IRS/SPEC staff to participate in state-wide training classes for benefit counselors and disseminating EITC information and other tax issues materials to these counselors and their clients. Internal Revenue Service EITC publications, the Disability Life Cycle Publication, Publication 907 and other important tax information related to persons with disabilities has been incorporated into training materials distributed by Indiana University’s Center on Community Living and Careers/Indiana Institute on Disability and Community. http://www.isdd.indiana.edu/

United Way

United Way of Central Indiana is a partner in the Indianapolis Asset Building Campaign. This organization assists with volunteer recruitment and getting volunteer tax preparation site information out into the community. The local 211 service is funded by United Way; the 211 system responds to more than 5,000 inquiries annually regarding free tax site locations, hours and contact information. http://www.uwci.org/default.asp?p=1

Mayors Office - Office on Disability: http://www.indygov.org/eGov/Mayor/home.htm

The Indianapolis Mayors Office is a partner in the Indianapolis Asset Building Campaign. The Mayor’s Office on Disability has been engaged in the normal work of the EITC coalition and would like to be more involved/proactive in the Disability Initiative; health issues have negatively impacted the ability of the current Indianapolis Mayors Office- Office on Disability staffer to participate in the work of the Disability Initiative. Indianapolis Mayor, Bart Peterson, is head of the National League of Cities for 2007 and is particularly interested in all aspects of Earned Income Credit and how it can assist members of the disability community.

VA Medical Center

The local VA Medical Center is interested in providing tax preparation services and Disability Initiative materials/information to all interested veterans (and their families) passing through the hospital. Currently, more than 46,000 individuals access the hospital’s services annually. The hospital has computer lab resources and a volunteer pool that can be trained for tax preparation services during the 2007-2008 fling season.