The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services awarded grant funding to strengthen the efforts of several area tax coalition efforts, including the Rowan County EITC Coalition.

The grant was awarded to collaborating partners Community Link, Charlotte Area Fund, Salisbury-Community Service Council and Union County Community Action Inc. and has been used to hire Kiwanna Brackett as the community outreach coordinator. In this position, Brackett will serve Rowan, Mecklenburg and Union counties.

Elizabeth Fields, a member of the Rowan County EITC Coalition, said, “The addition of a staff person for the Coalition will help expand the availability and visibility of free income tax preparation, e-filing and financial literacy services in our community.”

The coalition’s goal for the 2007 tax season is to serve more individuals, families and seniors with limited resources who are eligible for free tax preparation, e-filing, Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and Child Tax Credit (CTC) obtain services which aim at creating wealth.

It also plans to provide free tax preparation to those individuals who may not have a required filing status, but are eligible for the Telephone Excise Refund.

There are two Coalition sites: the First Legacy Federal Credit Union, 1400 W. Bank St., and the Park Avenue Community Center, 632 E. Park Ave.

Rowan County EITC Coalition is recruiting volunteers. Volunteers do not need an accounting background, only a willingness to learn and to make a time commitment to help those in need. For more information, contact Brackett at 704-943-9633 or kiwannab@communitylink-nc.org.