Rafi Efrat, Director, CSUN VITA Clinic
Liberated from the restraints of the pandemic, the CSUN Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) Clinic came back strong to clinch the top ranking among more than 6,700 VITA sites nationally in terms of returns transmitted. Powered by more than 250 student volunteers, CSUN VITA provided free tax preparation and financial coaching to over 8,500 low-income taxpayers in Los Angeles County.
In all, we helped taxpayers claim nearly $8 million in tax refunds and $2.8 million in federal and state Earned Income Tax Credits, while saving them over $1.9 million in tax preparation fees.
This year the CSUN VITA Clinic reopened its doors on campus and at 13 other sites throughout Los Angeles County, including seven public library locations. From Jan. 28 through April 18, dedicated volunteers were available six days per week and up to 12 hours per day.
With the generous support of Wells Fargo Bank, the Internal Revenue Service and the California Department of Community Services and Development, the CSUN VITA Clinic revitalized the exciting CSU5+ VITA Initiative, providing the impetus for nine campuses to join together and serve more than 12,000 taxpayers with the support of 500-plus student volunteers across our collaborative.
The $200,000 contribution from Wells Fargo Bank also enabled us to integrate and provide financial coaching services to our low-income taxpayer clients, empowering them to set aside a portion of their tax refunds to save for long-term financial goals.
In collaboration with CSUN's Translation and Interpretation program, and with financial help from City National Bank, our CSUN VITA Clinic also successfully integrated Spanish language interpretation service.
Our remarkable success during this past tax season would not be possible without some key individuals. Together with Professor Lucy Nalbandian, our VITA Clinic faculty member, I want to recognize and express our deepest appreciation to our exceptional leadership team, including our dedicated VITA Clinic co-coordinators Areli Araujo and Cynthia Montes; our operations supervisors Alexandra Muro, Melissa Cortez, Maria Anaya de Monarrez, Colin Rappel, Ammar Al Harthy; our social media communication specialist Lizette Macias; our financial coaching coordinator, Neeka Miremadi; and our student assistants Lily Cabrales and Jeny Vasquez-Flores. Their unparalleled, tireless commitment, along with their versatility, adaptability, and ingenuity, proved critically important to the success of the clinic’s operations. Aside from their high professional competencies, they, along with our lead supervisors, demonstrated superb ability to manage our high-paced work environment with a calm, positive predisposition and a “can do” attitude.
Professor Nalbandian and I have been particularly impressed by the incredible show of professionalism, unity and commitment demonstrated by the team of volunteers, including more than 240 certified tax preparers and supervisors, financial coaches, and Spanish interpreters. During our recent awards banquet, we had the pleasure of recognizing several outstanding VITA clinicians for their exemplary service, including Maria Bobrova, Nelson Granados, Bendel Baterina, Joseph Perez, and Andranik Yelanyan. These individuals were recognized with a $1,000 scholarship from the Bookstein VITA Endowment.
We look forward to next year with further expansion of our services in the community.