Three people standing together looking at the camera. One man hands a check to one woman

American National Bank & Trust: Investing in the Community

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American National Bank & Trust prioritizes making a difference in the communities it serves. Guided by this philosophy, the bank became a Bringing Hope Home sponsor this year.

Eddie Martin, American National Bank’s Chief Administrative Officer, explains the bank’s decision to support TAP this way: “As we consider the impact of our corporate donations, prioritization is given to health and human service organizations, financial education, and affordable housing initiatives.”

Mr. Martin continues, “We were struck by TAP’s passion for helping all individuals and families achieve a better quality of life in the communities we both serve.”

Just like TAP, American National Bank has been serving communities in southwestern Virginia for decades. Founded in 1909 in Danville, Virginia, the bank added a Roanoke branch in 2015. The bank now serves both Virginia and North Carolina with 26 branches.

Financial literacy is financial empowerment

American National Bank strengthens the communities it serves by investing in financial education initiatives. Their Bringing Hope Home sponsorship ultimately supported the TAP Tax Clinic. This program, now entering its 20th year, provides free tax preparation and filing services to low-income families. Tax Clinic customers not only get their taxes filed for free but are urged to use their refunds to pay off debt or build their savings. Such practices help build financial stability.

Outside of their sponsorship of TAP, American National Bank has also partnered with Banzai and United Way of Roanoke Valley’s Bank On program. Banzai provides free online financial literacy courses to both students and adults. United Way of Roanoke Valley’s Bank On partnership, which TAP is also a member of, provides everything from financial education and counseling to affordable banking opportunities.

“We believe it is our responsibility as a community bank and local business to take a leading role in strengthening our communities,” states Carolyn Kiser, American National’s Director of Marketing and Community Affairs. “Whether that’s helping a customer manage their finances, providing a loan to help a business succeed, or providing a financial donation, we value any opportunity to help our customers and communities thrive.”

Ms. Kiser continues, “By partnering with programs like Bank On Roanoke Valley, Banzai, and others, we hope to reach those both outside of the banking system and within it to ultimately offer resources that can help anyone with their financial well-being.”

To learn more about American National Bank, you can visit their website.

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The Tax Clinic Goes Virtual

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The TAP Tax Clinic provides free tax preparation and filing for low-income taxpayers. As the program enters its 20th year, it continues to evolve in order to meet the needs of customers. Most recently, the Tax Clinic began to offer a virtual filing option to make traditionally in-person services accessible to all in the wake of COVID-19.

Teffany Henderson pioneered the program and continues to oversee it to this day. She reflects, “Before the start of the 2021 tax season, we had no idea how we were going to operate.” Roanoke had just seen a surge in coronavirus cases after the winter holidays. Tax Clinic volunteers—who are vital to organizing and filing returns quickly—felt unsafe meeting with customers in person.

“That’s why I applied for us to participate with GetYourRefund,” Teffany says. “Because I knew it was important for us to offer the program no matter what.”

Simple, easy, and accessible

GetYourRefund is an IRS-approved service that was born out of the pandemic. They provide virtual tax preparation and filing by connecting clients with programs such as the TAP Tax Clinic. Through their secure online portal, taxpayers can make an account and quickly begin the tax-filing process. They can easily photograph and upload documents using a cell phone or tablet and verify their identity with a selfie. It makes filing taxes accessible to anyone with an internet connection.

Last tax season was the Tax Clinic’s first year partnering with GetYourRefund, and the partnership will continue for the 2022 season. “Our clients found virtual filing to be much easier than expected,” explains Teffany. “And those who work full-time or don’t have transportation loved how they could get their taxes filed from home.”

You can enter tax documents into the GetYourRefund portal at any time, day or night. Once you make an account with GetYourRefund and upload your documents to the TAP-specific link, the Tax Clinic will receive your information and begin your return. Though virtual filing does not include the traditional in-person appointment with TAP Tax Site Coordinators, they still communicate regularly with you while preparing your return and always have your best interest in mind.

More money in your pocket

This year, Teffany stresses the importance of waiting to have all your documents before you file.

“If you received the Advance Child Tax Credit, meaning that you received payments beginning in July of 2021, you’re going to get a letter 6419 that has the amount you received and that form must be included with your tax return,” says Teffany. “The Tax Clinic can’t amend taxes, so if a customer files without all necessary documents, they have to pay someone to amend their tax return.”

It’s also important to wait to receive letter 6475 from the IRS to prevent a delay in receiving your refund. Letter 6475 is the Economic Impact Payment (aka, the third roll-out of stimulus checks) received in the beginning of 2021. This must be recorded in your tax return.

Tax laws change frequently. Being unaware of those changes could mean missing opportunities to increase your refund. Tax Clinic staff and volunteers are well-versed in the latest changes. As the Tax Clinic enters its 20th year, they are more prepared than ever to maximize taxpayers’ refunds and ensure nothing slips through the cracks.

To begin your virtual tax filing process, visit www.getyourrefund.org/tap.

Op-Ed: IMAGINE THE VALLEY WITHOUT TAP by Craig Balzer

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Originally published in The Roanoke Times on January 13, 2022. Re-posted here with permission.

2022 marks the 57th year of Total Action for Progress’ existence.

During the holiday season, many of us enjoyed the rerun of the Hollywood classic It’s A Wonderful Life, the story of a local banker deterred from suicide by an angel who offers him visions of what life for his friends, family, and community would have been like without his existence.

That made us think: what would life in our area be like without TAP?

Many don’t know how extensive TAP’s work is and might assume there would be little difference in our communities today without its influence. In so many ways, even after 57 years, TAP remains one of the best untold stories in the Roanoke Valley and beyond—a story best known by those whose lives it has impacted.

Think of this: if TAP had not been here for the past 57 years, who would have:

  • reached out annually to more than 5,000 low-income people to help them toward self-sufficiency through education and employment, housing, financial services, domestic violence prevention and assistance, and family services?
  • Who would have provided a Head Start experience for more than 32,565 children?
  • Who would have helped 10,308 youth and adults to secure jobs?
  • Who would have provided remedial education opportunities for 7,505 youth and adults who had dropped out of school?
  • Who would have filed more than 3,500 tax returns free for low-income Virginians, helping them claim over $2.6 million in Earned-Income Tax Credits, if not for the TAP Tax Clinic?
  • Who would have kept over 8,000 families warm through weatherization services?
  • Who would have boosted Roanoke’s economy by providing close to 200 entrepreneurs with loans to start new local businesses?

Who would have had the capacity to start Legal Aid, the League of Older Americans (now the Local Office on Aging), RADAR, Southwest Virginia Second Harvest Food Bank (now Feeding Southwest Virginia), Project Discovery, Virginia CARES, and CHIP? Who would have worked with the Northwest Neighborhood Improvement Council to start the Harrison Museum of African American Culture?

More recently, who would have partnered with the Health Department and local neighborhood organizations to host local vaccination clinics, providing first-dose and booster shots to Roanoke citizens right in their neighborhoods? Or partnered with state and local governments to provide more than 1,400 individuals in 450 households with rent relief services when the pandemic affected their income?

Living in this area for most of us is a wonderful life. That wonderful life has in no small way been the result of TAP’s dedication to serving the community throughout the last 57 years.

But we can’t do it alone. Grants serve as the core of TAP’s funding, but there are certain expenses they can’t cover—that’s where you come in. Funds raised through TAP’s annual Bringing Hope Home campaign help fill these gaps and directly support life-changing programs for individuals in this community.

This is our time to invest in our community’s greatest asset—our people—to continue making our region stronger. With just a small donation you can support TAP to make sure we are around for another 57 years.