LOOK IN

I’ve created a new series for this page, featuring blogs developed and written by my very own team.  I hope they will help introduce you to the members of our Team who work daily on projects and issues we care deeply about.  I also hope you will take the time to not only read them, but respond to them.  Hearing your thoughts and ideas is a great way for us to connect to you and other Californians -- and important in learning how together we can make a difference in our communities and our state. 

WE Connect and Tax Day—There’s Good News!

How can Tax Day bring good news, you ask?  Most people dread Tax Day.  Many postpone filing their taxes until the very last minute.  However, Tax Day can mean good news to hundreds of thousands of families in California who are missing out on something called the Federal Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC).  For some families, it can mean a few hundred up to a few thousand dollars!   Who couldn’t use this money?  

We leave over one billion dollars on the table in EITC dollars alone.  When there are over 4.5 million families living in poverty in California—WE have to take action.  The EITC helps lift more children out of poverty than any other federal program, knowing this—WE must take action.  

Maria Shriver is taking action and she’s calling on each and every Californian to join her through WE Connect. 

WE Connect is about connecting working families to programs and services that can make real difference in the lives of people, such as the EITC.  WE Connect has been traveling across the state and building partnerships with community groups, small business development centers and even churches.  One of my favorite things about WE Connect has been our community events where we’ve provided free program application assistance and free tax preparation.   One of the organizations that has been so instrumental in helping us provide free tax preparation across the state has been Legal Services.  I have worked with them so much for the last three years that I know them all by first name: Bob, Jeanette, Chris and Manuel. 

The reason I enjoy the community events is because I have an opportunity to work with community organizations that focus on empowering working families and their passion and commitment is inspiring.  Although the event planning can often take its toll, I am always reenergized by the families I get to meet.  They always remind me of my own family. I see my parents or a brother or a sister in each person I talk to.  At the Fresno WE Connect event with the Governor, I ran into a young 18 year old boy a few times throughout the morning set up.  Each time I encouraged him to come back when the event started and look into all of the programs and services we had available, including the banking opportunities.   At the end of the day, I learned that he had come back and opened up his first bank account.  Success!  He was on the right path to building a strong financial future.  Hundreds of people attended the event but what I remember most is talking to him and the fact that I had actually made a difference that day—I had served as a “Connector.”

The fact is that every person can serve as a “Connector.”  Whether it is forwarding someone the link to www.weconnect.net or spreading the word about the EITC and other programs and services that empower working families, it all makes a difference.  Best Buddies has adopted a greeting common in central Africa “I see you” because it shows a true recognition of the individual and they see people with intellectual disabilities as equals.  I think this fantastic.  I believe that this kind of mentality is so crucial to making a positive difference in the lives of others.  When it came to developing the mission for WE Connect, it was important to Maria for the message for working families to be “WE believe in you, WE care about you, let us connect you to money, opportunity and dreams.”  It was that simple and that powerful.  Helping to combat poverty by serving as a “Connector” is that simple and that powerful as well. 

This is Maricela Rodriguez with another Team Maria blog.  I serve as Director of Scheduling and Community Outreach for the Office of First Lady Maria Shriver.  I have been lucky enough to work on projects such as the Trade Mission to Mexico and the Latinas Exhibit for the California Museum.  This year, I am also serving as the project director for the WE Connect Campaign.  WE Connect is such an exciting and rewarding project for me because it focuses on an issue that is very close to my heart—tackling poverty in California.  WE Connect is all about making a real difference in the lives of working families and bringing people, community groups, businesses and corporations together to serve as “Connectors.”  As someone who grew up in a home that struggled to make ends meet, I understand and believe in the impact that programs of WE Connect has on families.  So as you read this, consider becoming a “Connector.”