Community Foundation Receives National Grant to Support Access to Child Tax Credit Along Route 1

The Community Foundation for Northern Virginia announced today it is the recipient of a $50,000 grant to support Child Tax Credit application outreach in Northern Virginia. The grant is from the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) Funders Network partnership with Community Foundation Opportunity Network (CFON) and CFLeads initiative designed to rapidly respond to the federal government’s effort to quickly stand up the Community Outreach and Opportunity Fund (CO-OP Fund).

The goal of the CO-OP Fund is to engage community foundations through April 2022 to help ensure that as many families as possible receive the full CTC and EITC benefits they are eligible for, as quickly and as easily as possible.

The Community Foundation has awarded the federal $50,000 grant, plus its own matching funds, for a total of $95,000 to United Community, the leading human services non-profit agency in southeastern Fairfax County, Virginia. The additional funds for this match will be granted from the Lamond Fund, an endowed fund at the Community Foundation, designated to support nonprofits, schools, and other programs that promote the development and education of underserved children and youth along the Route 1 Corridor.

"We look forward to working with a trusted community partner like United Community on outreach and enrollment in this very important program, which provides much needed financial stability for families with low income," said Sari Raskin, Vice President of Grants and Community Leadership, the Community Foundation for Northern Virginia. “Our hope is that this partnership will create sustainable pathways for families along the Route 1 corridor to achieve upward mobility.”

Through United Community’s existing Neighborhood Ambassadors program, experts will assist with tax filing and accessible information about CTC and EITC benefits will be disseminated into the community through community engagement, training, social media channels, and multi-language written materials, all of which will be created in multiple languages for families.

“I am truly grateful to have the Community Foundation as a partner to bring equitable and prosperous outcomes to the Mount Vernon community. This is an important step in our aspiration to end multi-generational poverty,” said Yolonda Earl-Thompson, Community Impact Officer at United Community.