LIFT

LIFT-Philadelphia will provide free tax preparation services beginning February 1, 2010, where trained LIFT volunteers will be available to help Philadelphia community members prepare tax returns electronically and identify their eligibility for tax credits.

William Ward was facing an uphill battle this past year.  He was living in a shelter and trying to scrape together enough money to find his own place to live.  When the pretzel factory that he worked for informed him that they were banning tips, the major source of income for the factory workers, William was forced to find a better-paying job.  He approached his counselor at the St. John’s shelter in Philadelphia and was soon referred to LIFT-Philadelphia’s North office.

Trang Pham has risen among the ranks of LIFT-Philadelphia volunteers at a lightning-fast pace.  After discovering LIFT at a service fair at Temple University, Trang, then a freshman, immediately signed up to volunteer and was so taken with her work that she applied to become a Student Director within the first several months of her service.  Since then, her Site Coordinators have deemed her one of the major leaders in the office and her fellow volunteers consistently rely on her expertise—and Trang is only a sophomore at Temple University.