CASH Volunteers Make Tax Season Less Taxing for Community Members
Margot Seidel, a Head Program Director of CASH (Creating Assets, Savings & Hope) at Madison House. (photo contributed)
Tax season can be emotionally and financially stressful. Creating Assets, Savings, and Hope (CASH) is a program at Madison House dedicated to providing free tax preparation services for individuals and households earning less than $62,000 annually. As one of two head program directors of CASH, UVA fourth-year Margot Seidel believes that her time at CASH has been one of the hallmarks of her volunteering experience.
“[Before] the pandemic, we were filing returns that had an annual impact of upwards of $3 million in tax refunds given back to the community,” Margot says. “I remember hearing that figure my first year and thinking, oh my gosh, this is the coolest thing ever. It's really great to see that we are having a tangible impact on the community and putting money back in people's pockets.”
In the first semester of each school year, the CASH board provides tax training to volunteers to help prepare them for the IRS certification exam. Once they are tax certified, in the following semester, volunteers are assigned to shifts during tax season. This year, CASH has three different tax filing locations for five days per week beginning February 6, 2023.
“You have to think on your feet [since] oftentimes you are dealing with things that you've never seen before, whether that be someone with a tax filing status that you're not familiar with, or some form you've never seen,” Margot says. “We always have more people needing to get their taxes filed than we are able to provide services to, so we typically run through tax day.”
With a team of over 200 volunteers and more than 30 program directors, it can be a challenge to handle logistics. Margot views her role as a “servant leader” by building collaboration skills and taking into account feedback from volunteers and program directors for improvement. She emphasizes the importance of making sure that everyone’s thoughts and suggestions are reflected in the way that the program is run.
From handling catering for shifts to keeping up with new tax law changes, tasks are split among program directors to help balance the work. Margot also benefits from working with her co-HPD, Steven Jiang, and communicating consistently with the program directors.
“I think the reason I've stayed with CASH so long is because there's a lot of personal learning that comes with it,” Margot says. “Every year has been such a different experience both personally and professionally. There's also a lot of very hands-on, tangible skills that you're learning, and you learn to engage with people in a very professional manner.”
Through gaining tax knowledge, volunteers become certified to file their own taxes and file taxes for others as well, a life skill that goes beyond their time at CASH and at UVA. According to Margot, her favorite part of CASH is getting to know the residents that make up the larger Charlottesville community and helping them in a one-to-one setting.
“Taxes, at face value, are not the most exciting thing in the world. But the people you meet and the impact you get to make as a part of CASH are incredible,” Margot says. “As a UVA student, it's really important to recognize that you're part of a larger community and to be intentional about positively contributing to that community during your time here. So I think it's really great for volunteers to gain that perspective and to get involved with something they can feel good about.”
Author: Aarthika Krishnan