Idaho

The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) sometimes called the Earned Income Credit (EIC), is a refundable federal income tax credit for low-income working individuals and families. Congress originally approved the tax credit legislation in 1975 in part to offset the burden of social security taxes and to provide an incentive to work. When the EITC exceeds the amount of taxes owed, it results in a tax refund to those who claim and qualify for the credit.

To qualify, taxpayers must meet certain requirements and file a tax return, even if they did not earn enough money to be obligated to file a tax return.

The EITC has no effect on certain welfare benefits. In most cases, EITC payments will not be used to determine eligibility for Medicaid, Supplemental Security Income (SSI), food stamps, low-income housing or most Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) payments.

Find out if you are eligible for the EITC by answering some questions and providing basic income information using the EITC Assistant.

What kind of world do we live in where people are reduced to eating dirt in order to sustain themselves and their families? Recent media coverage has highlighted the fact that some Haitians (the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere) have to rely on eating and selling ‘cookies’ made out of mud in order to feed their families. This really highlights the seriousness of poverty as a global issue and how the politics of poverty destroys hope for so many.

“Labels are for cans, not for children” states third grade teacher Valorie Lewis of Stigler, Oklahoma. Lewis overcame many childhood hardships growing up in severe poverty (including living in a horsetrailer for over a year) and she now works daily to instill a sense of worth and respect for others in her pupils in the high poverty school district she teaches in. Check out this inspiring article from USA Today here.

Please visit the Coeur d’Alene Reservation Horizons blog, they’re doing a great job of sharing their community projects, calls for assistance for families in need and personal feedback about training they’ve attended. Thanks for your hard work, we appreciate it!

The Northwest Area Foundation announced winners of the 2008 Great Strides Awards given to communities working creatively to reduce poverty. Four communities: Elk City, Idaho; Glendive, Montana; Roseburg, Oregon and Eagle Butte, South Dakota. were each awarded $100,000.

Elk City, Idaho -- Framing Our Community, Inc. (FOC) (Idaho County,
poverty rate 15 percent; focus area population 15,542) Bounded by the
rustic Nez Perce National Forest, Elk City has suffered job loss and
population decline with the downturn in the timber industry. Rather than
consider the forest a moribund resource, town leaders did what may be
surprising: they turned to diseased, dead and downed trees as a new source
of prosperity. State and federal land management agencies, tribal
governments and private land owners are partnering with the nonprofit
organization, Framing Our Community (FOC), Inc., to remove ravaged timber
resulting in hazardous fuels reduction and forest restoration. The
long-range vision includes a small business incubator dedicated to creating
value-added products out of the discarded wood. Switching from an
extraction-based economy to a restoration-based economy has created new
jobs for Idaho County, which the Bureau of Economic Analysis had previously
identified as an area with a low income and high unemployment.

For information, please visit this link.

From the newly published toolkit, Homes Within Reach: “This toolkit was created as a place to begin a dialogue between stakeholders, and more  specifically, developers and municipal officials—two of the main players in the creation of affordable housing. It offers information about who lives in affordable housing, what developers see as some of the barriers to building it, and ideas for land use planning that encourage its creation. The design portfolio provides examples that range from multi-family development to mixed-use communities to single-family developments that match the surrounding rural landscape.” Follow this link to download the free pdf.

We have lots of interesting opportunities for Idaho Horizons Communities. Please check the Horizons Website!