Everyone deserves a chance to have a quality Education that leads to a stable job, enough Income to support a family and to live in good Health. The United Way of Metropolitan Dallas recently launched Earn It! Keep It! Save It!, a new initiative to help North Texans achieve financial stability.

In its inaugural year the Earn It! Keep It! Save It! program put more than $8 million back into the pockets of hardworking Dallas families by filing returns and helping them take advantage of the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC).

The importance of Earn It! Keep It! Save It!

Each year, the Earned Income Tax Credit pumps billions of dollars into our state’s economy. According to the Center for Public Policy Priorities, these funds lift more than 450,000 Texans including 250,000 children out of poverty. However, approximately 20 to 25 percent of eligible families and individuals do not file a claim because they are unaware of the tax credit or because of the complexity of filing.

If you qualify under program guidelines, please find an Earn It! Keep It! Save It! site near you.

What we are achieving

The nearly 4,700 low- to moderate-income individuals and families who filed their taxes through Earn It! Keep It! Save It! in 2009 received an average tax return of approximately $1,700. This allowed many families to catch up on rent and utilities, and purchase groceries and other necessities.

In 2009, Earn It! Keep It! Save It! recruited and trained approximately 385 community volunteers to provide free tax preparation at 29 Dallas Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) sites. On average, each volunteer helped return more than $20,000 to hardworking families!

Additionally, Earn It! Keep It! Save It! provides computer equipment to increase the capacity of the VITA sites.

You can help us make a major impact in the community. Find out how you can become a Volunteer and how you can Advocate on behalf of Earn It! Keep It! Save It!

Key supporters

City of Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert initiated the partnership with the United Way of Metropolitan Dallas. Citi, The Dallas Foundation and Thomson Family Foundation have each committed to fund the program for three years. Last year’s contributions included $200,000 from Citi, and $50,000 each from The Dallas Foundation and Thomson Family Foundation. FedEx Office provided $50,000 of in-kind printing services and IBM donated 60 computers valued at more than $58,000. In 2009, Citi employees accounted for 10 percent of the Earn It! Keep It! Save It! volunteer staff.