Madison House’s Creating Assets, Savings, and Hope (CASH) program works to train and coordinate student-volunteers to provide free tax preparation for low- and moderate-income community members…This year marks 15 years since the launch of the C’ville Tax Aid Coalition — a partnership including Madison House and the University of Virginia Community Credit Union that is coordinated by the United Way of Greater Charlottesville. Since its inception in 2007, the Coalition has generated over $35 million in direct economic impact for the Charlottesville area community.
As a first year at the University of Virginia (UVA), Chelsea Li (CLAS ‘20) wanted to soak up all the opportunities that the University had to offer. She found herself exploring new clubs and classes and was especially eager to be in the community. “In high school,” she said, “I felt as if I was missing a lot of the learning that happens outside the classroom.” This desire to stretch her curiosity across disciplines and interests, along with an intrinsic desire to uplift those around her, was what first brought Chelsea to Madison House.
The House has long been a place where students can come to find or rediscover themselves and their place within the community. This held true for Paige, who shared that “it gives me peace of mind knowing that I am a good swimmer but that's not what defines me. There's so much more to life, like helping others. My time at Madison House has allowed me to see that.”
Kruse, from Ridgeland, Mississippi, is a fourth-year student in the McIntire School of Commerce. She initially got involved in the program because of her prior experience in advocacy work.
“Ultimately, the goal of the program is for students to learn about environmental science through a native lens,” Kruse said. “Maelee Hearington, another UVA student, and I wrote the curriculum to focus on science, social activism and social justice. We also provide additional resources like workbooks, markers, easels and notebooks.”
On March 11, 2020, all Madison House in-person volunteering was suspended in an effort to slow the emergence of COVID-19. Shortly after, a Spring Action Team headed by Madison House student volunteers Simmy Bhatia, Caroline Hallowell, and Mikaela Rirchardson worked in coordination with Dr. Rose Cole, the Madison House Director of Community Engagement, to begin developing a virtual volunteering initiative called "Hoos Helping."
Maxwell Madani is a fourth-year studying Cognitive Science in the College of Arts & Sciences. He is the Madison House Program Director and Programming Intern at Computers4Kids, social chair for the Persian Cultural Society, and president of the Neuroscience Enthusiasts Club. Maxwell also works as a medical scribe in the Emergency Department and conducts research with Dr. Xiaowei Lu in the UVA Cellular Biology department.
Madison House is incredibly excited about their newly funded Engaged Learning Initiative. With generous support from the UVA Parents Fund and The Jefferson Trust, the Community-Engaged Learning and Leadership Initiative will support faculty who want to utilize Madison House programs for community-engaged course service placements. For example, in this semester (its pilot semester), Prof. Esther Poveda’s Spanish class on “Social Justice Writing for Change”partnered with the Latinx and Migrant Aid program at Madison House; students worked with Sin Barreras and in local elementary schools to support bilingual children and their parents who speak mostly Spanish.
Vivian Garcia is a second-year majoring in economics in the College. She is currently the chair of the UVA Student Council Service Committee and has volunteered through Madison House at Loaves and Fishes Food Pantry and Greenbrier Elementary School C.L.A.S.S. Program. In her free time, she works at Asado and is a member of the Pi Beta Phi Virginia Epsilon Chapter.
