CHECK US OUT

Among the most immediate and perhaps lasting impacts of the COVID19 pandemic was the flip to a virtual world. Ensuring quick access to accurate information online became critical. WCAC is pleased to debut a newly redesigned website thanks to our marketing partner, Penta Communications. We hope you'll find the new layout and design appealing and easy to follow. Check us out and let us know what you think. We continue to tweak and modify information and are striving to make accessing the various programs and services we have available as easy as possible. Check us out at www.WCAC.net

BACK TO SCHOOL

As businesses, offices, restaurants and the like begin to reopen, perhaps no industry has served as a greater lightening rod for varied opinons as childcare and schools. WCAC is proud to be operating four summer classrooms - two in each of our Southbridge and Webster Head Start Centers. Kudos to our early education and care team for pulling together to meet the myriad of health and safety protocols required to open to create a safe yet enjoyable learning environment for our little ones.

With strict health and safety regulations in place, reduced class sizes, mask wearing and social distancing have all become the new normal in preschool classrooms. The forty children under our care have adjusted well and are quickly adapting to the new way of doing things.

While we can't be certain what the fall will hold, WCAC is presently recruiting for enrollment for full day and half-day spots in both our Southbridge and Webster centers. Providing school readiness with a focus on language, literacy, as well as social emotional development and support services for the whole family. Breakfast and lunch provided daily. Licensed by the MA Department of Early Education & Care and accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children, families must meet income eligibility requirements. WCAC's service area includes Leicester, Millbury, Oxford, Spencer/East Brookfield, Southbridge & Webster. Learn more and apply online.

TOGETHER WE DO BETTER

The Coalition for a Healthy Greater Worcester is partnering with Worcester Community Action Council and Worcester Together to fulfill a ten month contract position to develop and manage a community volunteer system to support response, recovery and rebuilding efforts to the impacts of the COVID19 pandemic. The Volunteer Coordinator will be responsible for tracking referral requests from partner organizations and collected from the Worcester Family Resource Center call line, and managing a team of recruited and trainsed volunteers to distribute donated supplies out of a central location. The position will also help establish seamless and organized policies, practices and protocols to help coordinate volunteers across the WCAC footprint, including support for the recruiting, screening and matching of volunteers to assist low0income households and individuals with free tax preparation during the tax season. It is anticipated that the new shared position will begin August 1st.

VIRTUAL VEGGIES?

This is a YouthGROW summer season like no other. While the Regional Environmental Council (REC) had to make many changes to keep youth and staff safe, some things have remained the same. With the help of 45 youth being supported with summer employment, they are producing more food than ever before, both at the farms and soon, at many of our youth's homes.

REC adult staff team is working on both of our farm sites in Bell Hill and Main South 3 mornings a week with 12 youth, split into teams of 6. These youth have all been members of YouthGROW for at least a year, some as many as four, and hold formal leadership roles within the program. An additional 33 youth are being supported through the Youth Works program and Worcester Community Action Council to participate in our first ever virtual summer program. Each of these youth are being supported to grow food at their own home- some with raised beds, container gardens, and some at new community garden sites REC constructing for them.

With additional support from the Worcester Together Fund, REC is able to provide every youth in our program with regular home deliveries of produce, much of which is being grown right here in Worcester on the YouthGROW farms.

VITA GOES VIRTUAL

In 2020, the Worcester Free Tax Service Coalition celebrated its 18th year of providing free tax preparation and asset building services to low income working taxpayers throughout Central Massachusetts! Through the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program, IRS-certified volunteers prepare taxes and specifically look for tax credits the household may be eligible for, such as the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), Child Tax Credit (CTC), Circuit Breaker Tax Credit, and others. Utilizing the free tax preparation services allows families to retain their full refund, avoiding typical preparation fees which can often cost hundreds of dollars.

Worcester Community Action Council (WCAC) is among the Coalition’s city wide members, comprised of a collaboration of businesses, financial institutions and non-profit organizations who work to promote free income tax credit benefits to low and moderate income working individuals and families as a strategy to build household assets and increase economic self-sufficiency.

COVID-19 caused VITA sites nation-wide to temporarily halt services mid-season, and WCAC was proud to participate in a nation-wide pilot program called Get Your Refund designed by Code for America that enabled tax preparation to continue 100% virtually and encouraged taxpayers to send all of their documentation to certified volunteers on a smartphone or computer via a secure platform. WCAC plans to continue to be able to offer this service in 2021.

In 2020, 26 volunteers donated 466 hours to prepare income tax returns at no cost for 559 low-income households at WCAC’s two sites. This was all possible because of our dedicated volunteers. If you are interested in volunteering as a VITA tax preparer during the 2021 tax season, please email  vita@wcac.net  

Emergency Mortgage & Rental Assistance

To assist families who are facing a housing crisis related to the coronavirus pandemic, the MA Department of Housing and COmmunity Development has established the Emergency Mortgage & Rental Assistance (ERMA) program.

In order to qualify for ERMA, households must meet all of the following criteria: Currently rent or own housing as a primary residence in Massachusetts; have gross household income that is between 50% and 80% of Area Median Income (AMI); and have a housing emergency due to a financial hardship related to or exacerbated by the COVID-19 crisis. ERMA funds allow up to $4,000 per household over a 12-month period and can be utilized to assist with the following expenses for the household’s primary residence: rental and mortgage arrears for payments due no earlier than April 1, 2020; and rental and mortgage stipends for payments due after the date of application. Learn more here .

COVID-19 has affected us all, but we need to understand HOW so that we can PLAN for the future! The City of Worcester, Central Massachusetts Regional Public Health Alliance and the University of Massachusetts Medical School are inviting everyone who lives in the Worcester area to take an online survey. The purpose of the survey is to learn more about how the Coronavirus (COVID-19) is affecting the lives of people who live in the Worcester area. We will use this information to help plan programs and services. Your answers will remain anonymous. We are all in this together!

Do you live in Worcester, Grafton, Holden, Leicester, Millbury, Shrewsbury or West Boylston? Use this link to complete the survey. Take it here! Share it with others!