NH Earned Income Tax Credit Alliance Rolls out New Web Site

In 2004, UNH Cooperative Extension specialists Suzann Knight and Valerie Long founded the New Hampshire Earned Income Tax Credit Alliance to bring together the many agencies and coalitions working throughout the state to help families improve their financial stability.

“We developed the Alliance to strengthen EITC-promotion efforts throughout the state,” says Long. “Its aims include encouraging development of volunteer tax preparation sites in areas that don’t yet serve EITC-eligible clientele, establishing collaborations between Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) and other free tax preparation sites, promoting best practices, developing a statewide media campaign to inform EITC-eligible residents about where they can go for free tax preparation, and generally support community EITC efforts. The Alliance is unique—extraordinary, really—in that it involves all the key players in the state working to benefit our families in need.”

“But Alliance members soon realized we needed some means of sharing information among ourselves, promoting best practices, and distributing information about the EITC to the general public,” Long says. “We developed the Web site to meet those needs.”

“The site will allow us to collaborate more effectively with our partners, provide important information to the public and professionals involved in helping low- and moderate-income families improve their financial security, and increase the visibility of the Alliance and the family asset-building efforts in our state,” says Long. “We think of it as one-stop shopping for interested in building strong financial futures.”