St. Mary GED program, tax help available at outset of ’08

Whether you’re preparing for the Graduation Equivalency Degree or readying your taxes, St. Mary Community Action is ready to help low-income families realize those goals.

Beginning this month, the agency is launching a GED program and a tax preparation program.

It’s in keeping with the organization’s mission, said CEO Almetra Franklin: “People helping people, changing lives, reaching families.”

St. Mary Community Action is recruiting students in east St. Mary Parish – Patterson, Bayou Vista, Berwick, Morgan City and Amelia – for its Jobs for America’s Graduate classes at its instructional site, 507 Fourth St., in Morgan City.

To enroll, students must be age 16 to 21. The agency will enroll up to 25 students, who will undergo 20 hours per week of classroom training sessions.

Franklin said training sessions will be held from 8 a.m. to noon daily Monday through Friday. Transportation will be provided to and from the instructional site, and students who successfully complete the program will receive a JAG skills certificate.

To qualify for enrollment, students must not have enrolled in a secondary school system (public or private) for fewer than 90 days and must not possess a GED.

Individual assessments, job competency skill training, reading and writing pre-tests, academic remediation, resume writing and career association will all be covered at the daily session, Franklin said.

Each student will be tracked and evaluated, she noted.

For more information or to apply for the program, students should contact Jeff Beverly or Charles Middleton at (337) 828-5703.

Free tax preparation will be available at the St. Mary Community Action center beginning Monday, Jan. 14.

Low-income residents can file their taxes Monday through Friday, from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., at the following locations:

• St. Mary Neighborhood Service Center, 330 Cardinal St., Morgan City;

• St. Mary Neighborhood Service Center, 203 Martin Luther King Blvd., Baldwin;

• St. Mary Community Action Agency, 1407 Barrow St., Franklin.

The tax service is being offered through the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program (VITA). Franklin said the program allows her staff to help prepare basic 2006 tax returns for low-income families and seniors, free of charge.

Those filing are reminded that to qualify for Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), they must have a qualifying child and a household income of less than $36,348 ($38,348 if married filing jointly; a qualifying child and a household income of less than $32,001 ($34,001 if married filing jointly); or – with or without children – have earned less than $12,120 ($14,120 if married filing jointly).

For more information on the free tax preparation, contact Linda Moreaux at (337) 828-5703.