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Mercer Alliance to End Homelessness

Help with Transportation

NJfindaride.org is an Internet-based one-stop resource offering information on available transportation options and services for disabled persons designed to provide you with travel information to assist in your trip planning activities.

There is a unique question/assessment section “I NEED A RIDE” that provides information on transportation options best suited to the individual’s needs. If there is no direct option to meet your needs, it provides numbers to call for further help.

From Lauren Messina, Disability Program Navigator, Mercer County One-Stop Career Center lmessina@mercercounty.org, 609-989-6243

Employment Tool

This Webinar, which is intended for the workforce system, is designed to showcase mySkills myFuture, a new on-line skills transferability tool that allows job seekers and staff intermediaries to match a worker’s occupational skills and experiences with the skills needed in other occupations, in order to facilitate upward mobility. This tool will allow users to easily obtain customized results that meet their individual and organizational needs.

Presenter: Bill McMahon, Consultant, Minnesota State Colleges and Universities (MNSCU)
Moderator: Mike Harding
, Unit Chief, Electronic Tools, Division of Workforce System Support, Employment and Training Administration
Date:
09/09/2010
Time:
2:00 pm Eastern (1:00pm/Central, 12:00pm/Mountain, 11:00am/Pacific)
Length:
60 minutes

Register Now!!!

Registration for this Webinar is limited and seating is on a first-come, first-served basis. Multiple people in one physical location are encouraged to register under one name and attend jointly.

Hate Crimes Against The Homeless - America’s Growing Tide of Violence August, 2010, by National Coalition for the Homeless

Read the report

Below is a report about a Trenton individual, John Madden “Homeless People Targeted in Vicious Attacks TRENTON, NEW JERSEY - May 14, 2009. John Madden, fifty-eight, died after suffering a beating with a blunt object. His body was found with severe trauma to his head and chest. It was later identified that he sustained substantial brain bleeding and injuries to both sides of his head. He was transported in an unconscious state to Capital Health Hospital but never awoke. Police have identified that these types of injuries are consistent with assault, not a fall or accident. Another man is recovering in a Philadelphia hospital after being set on fire. While sleeping in a vacant structure, an unidentified man was burned when someone set his mattress on fire. He also sustained lacerations to his face. The motive behind the attacks remains unknown, but police presumed that the violence was directly related to the victims’ homelessness.”

Seeking Volunteers to do Free Taxes

The Mercer Alliance to End Homelessness is seeking volunteers during the upcoming tax season, to staff Free Tax Preparation Sites throughout Mercer County. You can make a huge impact on family or individual’s life. Sign up!

To be a volunteer tax preparer, you must take and pass the IRS test. There will be a short 2 hour session, followed by individual self-study with support and then a longer session where you will receive practical knowledge in tax law, and TaxWise software use, as well as hands-on practice completing tax returns.

We are also looking for bilingual volunteers to help with two new sites. If you are bilingual, but don’t want to learn the taxes we could use you as a translator.

Training will be scheduled in December and January. Volunteers are needed January to April for 2 to 4 hours a week. There are a variety of sites with different hours needing volunteers.

Sign-up: Tarry Truitt, Communications and Project Manager, ttruitt@merceralliance.org.

Eight Things to Know If You Receive an IRS Notice

Did you receive a notice from the IRS this year? Every year the IRS sends millions of letters and notices to taxpayers but that doesn’t mean you need to worry. Here are eight things every taxpayer should know about IRS notices – just in case one shows up in your mailbox.

  1. Don’t panic. Many of these letters can be dealt with simply and painlessly.
  2. There are number of reasons the IRS sends notices to taxpayers. The notice may request payment of taxes, notify you of a change to your account or request additional information. The notice you receive normally covers a very specific issue about your account or tax return.
  3. Each letter and notice offers specific instructions on what you need to do to satisfy the inquiry.
  4. If you receive a correction notice, you should review the correspondence and compare it with the information on your return.
  5. If you agree with the correction to your account, usually no reply is necessary unless a payment is due.
  6. If you do not agree with the correction the IRS made, it is important that you respond as requested. Write to explain why you disagree. Include any documents and information you wish the IRS to consider, along with the bottom tear-off portion of the notice. Mail the information to the IRS address shown in the upper left-hand corner of the notice. Allow at least 30 days for a response.
  7. Most correspondence can be handled without calling or visiting an IRS office. However, if you have questions, call the telephone number in the upper right-hand corner of the notice. Have a copy of your tax return and the correspondence available when you call, to help us respond to your inquiry.
  8. It’s important that you keep copies of any correspondence with your records.

For more information about IRS notices and bills, see Publication 594, The IRS Collection Process. Information about penalties and interest charges is available in Publication 17, Your Federal Income Tax for Individuals. Both publications are available at IRS.gov or by calling 800-TAX-FORM (800-829-3676).

Links:

  • Publication 594, The IRS Collection Process (PDF)
  • Publication 17, Your Federal Income Tax for Individuals (PDF)

For More Information

Please Contact: Tarry Truitt, Communications and Project Manager, ttruitt@merceralliance.org or 609-844-1008

 

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