Our Clients' Stories

Each year the DC EITC Campaign serves over 5,000 people at our tax sites throughout the greater DC area. Behind every return is a story. Here are a just a few of them.

Ronda* - A single mother of three with a serious tax problem

Angelica - A student who is planning for a brighter future

Griselda – A mother of two paying off her house and sending a daughter to college

Amy* – A woman dealing with homelessness who found help to better manage her limited funds

Donna* - A nurse and mother who paid too much for bad tax preparation before finding our program

Eddie* - A father intimidated by the tax process found new confidence and economic freedom

Gracie – An unemployed mother just getting by and planning for her son’s education

*Client’s name has been changed.
Photos do not necessarily depict clients in stories.

Ronda is a single mother of three working hard as a secretary to make ends meet. In 2008 she achieved a life goal and bought her first home. Her financial future was looking bright, until a 2009 letter from the IRS sent her finances tumbling.

That letter said her tax preparer had made some mistakes, and she feared she would have to return a significant amount of money to the IRS. Ronda didn’t know where to turn. She had always used the same paid preparer, so she didn’t file at all in 2009. Then, this year, Ronda found the DC EITC Campaign tax site at the Ophelia Egypt Program Center.

“They really took care of me. They went over everything with me, asked me questions and figured out what happened. They were so thorough and accurate and I really enjoyed it.” Ronda ended up making four trips to the site over the course of tax season. During that time, she says, “I sorta became family.”

In the end, the DC EITC Campaign amended her 2008 return to claim the First-Time Homebuyer Credit and fix the other errors, and completed her 2009 and 2010 returns, ensuring she got all of the credits she had earned. In 2010 alone, she was refunded over $5,000. She plans to use the money to repay the IRS, fix up her house, pay off some bills, and take her kids on a trip this summer. “It was a process,” Ronda says, “but I really really really loved and appreciate them.”

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Angelica is a student who has been getting her taxes done at the DC EITC Campaign site at MLK Library for as long as she can remember, and so has her mother. She used her refund and the money she saved by coming to the tax site to help pay off her student loans. She is currently going to a technical institute, but hopes to complete her education at a four-year college. Paying off her student loans is a big part of reaching that goal. “I’ll be able to have car, provide for my family, and finish school.”

She is a big fan of the program, spreading the word wherever she goes. “[They were] organized, fast, there were a lot of good things about it. They were telling me what certain things were, not just doing things behind a computer, but explaining to me.”

She’s excited about attending the Money Management 101 classes, because “I think a lot of people need to know about money management, and I want to go because I’ll be able to tell other people about it.”

Assisting a client with tax papers at United Planning Organization Griselda is a mother of two, a 16 year old and 5 year old, who lives in Southeast DC. She received the EITC and her refund ended up being $14,000. She is using her refund to help pay the mortgage on the house she is living in now and to help send her daughter to college. She is planning to start saving for her younger daughter’s college with any money left over.

“I have goals and work to achieve them. Providing an education to my children is my main goal. I want them to have all the opportunities I didn't have.”

She came from Dominican Republic 8 years ago. She is citizen now. She has struggled in life and overcome tough times, and is currently working to learn English.

Amy was a walk-in client who acknowledged being currently homeless. In reviewing her forms our Savings Promoter saw that she did not have a bank account, so she explained to her about the free debit cards we had available and helped her register for one so that she could save money on cashing her refund check and keep the money safe. Amy then asked about a bank account, so she gave her information about Bank on DC, which has low-cost and second-chance bank accounts to help people get back on their feet financially.

Donna has a nursing job at Children’s Hospital with three daughters in college and one son at home. She got her taxes done at our site at United Planning Organization for the first time this year. She got a $7,000 federal refund that made her so happy, especially after going to [a big name paid preparer] last year, where they charged her over $500. What’s worse, our review of last year’s return found egregious errors.

Eddie did not file taxes for several years. He came to assist his brother in filing taxes. In a short discussion, he and a volunteer tax preparer concluded that he also needed to file taxes. He was very uncomfortable with dealing with the government. The tax preparer provided him with the law and informed him of his rights and his responsibilities. The preparer then provided him with a “to do” list with deadlines.

He brought in his information and the preparer concluded that he was owed money. When he received his return, he paid off his bills, opened up a business and took his family on a dream trip. He returned to say thank you and cried on the volunteer’s shoulder for hours. Now, he is a tax-paying citizen with an up-and-coming business.

Gracie is an unemployed mother who got her taxes done with her husband at the Jubilee Jobs site. She used her refund to pay bills and is hoping next year to be able to buy a savings bond for her young son. “We needed [the refund] to get some of these bills off our back.”

She has come to the site for three years running now, since she learned about it through the Jubilee Jobs program. “They do good work and I hope they keep it up. It helps me out a whole lot.”