Texas Financial Literacy Coalition Champions Earned Income Tax Credit Efforts. - Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News

By Mike Copeland, Waco Tribune-Herald, Texas Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News

Feb. 19--Shawn Graefser, 30, makes $19,000 a year as a maintenance man at Providence Health Center and a night stocker at the H-E-B grocery store on Wooded Acres Drive. He is married with two young children, and he and his family would like to move into a home of their own.

The dream of homeownership seemed out of reach until Graefser chatted with Chuck Sivess, development officer for the Providence Foundation.

Sivess, meanwhile, said Graefser was 'perfect' for what Providence wanted to do.

What Providence did was blitz employees with information about the Earned Income Tax Credit, which can put extra money in the pockets of low- to middle-income families, and about programs in Waco to help people buy homes.

On Wednesday, the Heart of Texas Financial Literacy Coalition held a luncheon at McLennan Community College to honor the more than 50 organizations, including Providence, that have taken up the cause of spreading the word. Mayor Linda Ethridge emceed the event, and U.S. Rep. Chet Edwards, D-Waco, spoke.

But in Ethridge's own words, Graefser stole the show with his success story.

Graefser said he has not yet bought a home but he's getting there. And thanks to Providence, he knows about the tax credit that will put an extra $2,200 in his family's budget this year.

'The EITC is like a huge lottery, and you earn your ticket by working hard every day,' Edwards said. 'But many have not claimed that ticket, though it could be worth up to $4,000 a year. Claiming that credit could mean $10 million to Waco families. It could mean being able to pay off that credit card debt or sending a child to MCC for a fine education.'

If you were raising more than one child in your home in 2003 and your family earned less than $33,692, or if you're married and filing jointly and earned less than $34,692, you could get an EITC of up to $4,204.

Waco's literacy coalition was founded about 20 months ago. Maggie McCarthy, executive director of the philanthropic Rapoport Foundation, received a call from an IRS representative who said Waco taxpayers were not claiming millions in EITCs.

'The community was leaving behind $10 million,' said McCarthy, who agreed to spearhead efforts to change that.

The literacy coalition provides free tax preparation and advice to low- and middle-income families; provides basic financial education, such as how to balance a checkbook; and encourages taxpayers to invest their refunds in buying homes.

Carlos Sanchez, editor of the Tribune-Herald, received praise Wednesday for publicizing the coalition's efforts. He said the newspaper can and will champion successes in the community as it points out foibles, adding that the coalition is worthwhile and worth covering.

Kent Keahey, president and CEO of the Providence Healthcare Network, said he was 'shocked' when he found out how many local residents were not filing for the tax credit. His research showed that a thousand of Providence's 1,600 employees made less than $35,000 a year, and that many might qualify for the tax credit. His staff arranged 14 meetings over two weeks with employees.

'At the same time,' Sivess said, 'we were working on a separate project to help our employees get assistance on down payments and closing costs.

We put the two programs together in our meetings with employees.'

Jeff Wall, Waco's director of housing and community development, said some families can qualify for low-interest loans of up to $14,000 to help with down payments. Another program, he says, makes 'forgivable loans' of up to $7,000 available to people who build homes from scratch.

The city also administers a program that provides matching funds to employees whose employers put up money to help with down payments.

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(c) 2004, Waco Tribune-Herald, Texas. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.