Sit down and talk to Bea Brown and you may not realize how instrumental she was in launching a program that helped bring over $116,000 back to Lebanon County residents.  That’s because she is extremely humble about her volunteerism with the Lebanon County Money in Your Pocket Coalition. 

Formed in the summer of 2007, the Coalition is a partnership between the United Way of Lebanon County, the Lebanon County Community Action Partnership (CAP), the American Red Cross Retired and Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP) and Lebanon Valley College (LVC). The Coalition sponsors the IRS Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program in Lebanon County; VITA provides volunteer prepared free tax returns to low income individuals and families.  Volunteers are trained by IRS-certified instructors to help clients get all of the money they are eligible to receive  through tax credits such as Earned Income (EITC); credits that are often times overlooked by professional preparers.

As they planned for expanding the VITA program in Lebanon, Coalition members discovered Bea Brown, a volunteer greeter at a Harrisburg VITA site who just happened to volunteer her time at an LVC “Super Saturday” VITA tax preparation day, and invited her to join the Lebanon County Coalition.

“I drove into Harrisburg for two years because I thought [VITA] was such a worthwhile program,” said Brown

On her first day with the Coalition, Brown hit the ground running, working to open a Lebanon City site.

“Somebody has to take the reins and make it happen and I just happened to be the person that was there at that time.  I care because it brings money to the people that need it the most and it keeps money in your own community,” said Brown.

The VITA program, a grassroots initiative with very little start-up funding, relied on donations of time and services. 

“I think it was the resources here in Lebanon County that got us going,” said Sandy Long of CAP - resources like Bea Brown who spent over 400 hours coordinating all the details for opening Lebanon City’s first VITA site at the Lebanon County Democratic Headquarters, 23 S. Sixth St. 

“Bea was the spark … I’d love to have more Beas,” said Michelle Strauser of RSVP.  “She pretty much did everything the first year.  Without her, [VITA in Lebanon County] would not have happened.” 

Using two computers supplied by the Democratic Headquarters and two personal computers, one of which was Brown’s, the Coalition found four volunteers that were willing to become certified tax preparers. Brown took the lead as a Site Coordinator, organizing volunteers and ensuring that everything ran smoothly at the site.  She also went through the online tax course to gain her IRS certification. 

“You could say this three or four times and it wouldn’t be enough, but without the volunteers this wouldn’t be anything,” said Brown.  “Our four tax preparers put in exorbitant amounts of hours … and just did a tremendous job doing taxes for the clients.”  Over $100,000 in refunds and credits speaks for itself.

As the Coalition gears up for this tax season, Brown is learning from past experience.  This year recruiting for VITA volunteers began in October and the Coalition is holding monthly meetings to ensure that everything is in place for an excellent 2009 tax season.  Thanks to the United Way, the Coalition has grant money to buy necessary supplies and, thanks to a generous donation by The Hershey Company, the site has ten laptop computers to use for tax preparation. Along with the LVC site, located in Lynch 128 on the College’s campus, and the site at the Democratic Headquarters, a United Way of Lebanon County Community Impact Grant is being used to open a third site at the Hispanic Center (CALAL), 406 N. 9^th Street, which will serve primarily Spanish-speaking clients.

“Without the United Way we would not be having a second city site,” said Brown.  “One reason I pushed for a second site was I was so nervous last year because the Democratic Headquarters was not handicap accessible … I wanted to be able to service everybody.” 

Now with three sites in Lebanon County the Coalition will be able to serve everyone who qualifies, including handicapped and Spanish speaking clients, and has 49 interested volunteers, nine of which are bilingual, working towards achieving IRS certification.

The United Way of Lebanon County would like to thank Bea Brown for all of her hard work to help the citizens of Lebanon County become more financially stable.  Bea Brown, you don’t just wear the shirt, you live it!

Article written by: Megan Hoffa, AmeriCorps*VISTA, mhoffa@unitedwaylebco.org