When local artist Jahnice Truesdell first moved to Tucson, she never imagined that a conversation with her mom would lead to ten years of support from United Way’s VITA program. As a creative professional with a fluctuating income, Janice found relief, empowerment, and a sense of community through free tax assistance services. In this heartfelt interview, she shares how United Way has not only saved her money but also given her peace of mind—and why she believes everyone should know about the power of living united.

Gabe Mendoza, a young Tucson resident, experienced a transformative journey of growth with the support of United Way of Tucson and the Cradle to Career initiative. Initially struggling through high school during the pandemic and feeling lost post-graduation, Gabe found direction through United Way’s programs, which focus on opportunity youth aged 16-24 who are not in school or working.

In the midst of the awe-inspiring Grand Canyon resides Supai Village, home to the Havasupai Nation—a community facing unique challenges that Dale, a retiree seeking purpose, discovered through an unexpected avenue. Dale’s journey began with a conversation with his wife, a CPA in Scottsdale, and a realization that the Havasupai people in Supai Village needed assistance with tax preparation.

Angel Cordova was born and raised in Tucson and always dreamed of following in her families’ footsteps with a career in Health Care. Unfortunately, due to circumstances out of her control, she became disconnected from school and work during her High School Years.

The Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program (VITA) provides free tax preparation for people earning up to $73k annually. Each year, VITA recruits dozens of local volunteers and provides free classes and IRS Certification. Jesse was one of those volunteers. “The VITA team at United Way of Tucson worked hard to help as many people possible, given the extreme circumstances of the pandemic. My interactions with the VITA participants were extremely rewarding. The first client that comes to mind was a gentleman who was laid off early in the pandemic. He was forced to move off one of Arizona’s reservations to a bigger city to look for work. When we spoke, he still had not found work. Because he had not received any stimulus payments, I was able to help ease his financial situation through the work we do.”

The Family Support Alliance anchored at United Way of Tucson is uniting quality services that strengthen families with young children. Home visitors provide families with parenting education, community resources, & family assistance. One of our home visitors, Lucia, was working with a family of eight, that includes six children. “In early 2021, the mother came down with COVID-19 and had to stop working. She has continued to be sick since then, so much so that her husband also had to stop working to take care of her and the children. The medical bills were piling up and the family was struggling when the Family Support Alliance stepped in.” Their home visitor connected the family to utility assistance from the United for Southern Arizona COVID-19 fund along with other resources to help the family through this difficult time.

This past year, Tim became involved with the ELDER Alliance and The Arizona End of Life Care Partnership (EOLCP), both anchored at United Way. The ELDER Alliance is a broad collaboration of community partners and residents aged 50+ advocating and designing solutions to improve quality of life for the older adult population. EOLCP is dedicated to creating a comprehensive network of end of life care support in Southern Arizona. “Not only does United Way support important social service non-profit organizations, but it also hosts important community organizing activities. I hope we can become a model for what a healthy, prosperous, and just community looks like and I admire the community organizing United Way of Tucson does to help connect the pieces to ensure a more equitable Southern Arizona.” – Tim Wernette

Robin is a single mother of two who has been using the VITA program for 3 years. When the pandemic hit, she turned to VITA’s new online platform, GetYourRefund.org. At first, it looked like Robin would owe money to the government. Additionally, Robin was struggling with securing consistent childcare, due to the pandemic, and she often had to miss work or pay double for her children’s care, resulting in adverse pay. Robin’s VITA Volunteer spent hours doing research on current tax laws. He found that due to her experiences of adverse pay, instead of owing money, Robin and her family qualified for a significant refund. “I’m so appreciative of VITA’s efforts, I know if I’d paid someone to do my taxes, I wouldn’t have had the same result. Thank you for providing this amazing program.” – Robin

Taia is a member of the United Youth Leadership Council (UYLC), a partner organization of United Way of Tucson, that works to continuously improve employment and educational systems to better serve Opportunity Youth (16-to-24-year -olds who are not in school or working). Additionally, the UYLC is dedicated to improving the juvenile justice and child welfare systems to achieve positive outcomes for youth who are system involved. “This work is important because we provide a voice to a group of people society tends to neglect. This is especially necessary right now with the tragedy of COVID-19. Currently, we’re making hygiene packets for the youth since not everybody has access to a sink or other basics. Knowing we’re making things accessible is really great for our community.” – Taia Thomas

Sonia is a 33-year-old mother of two, Ikuzo and Michael, and helps support Savannah, her step daughter, with her husband Jeffery Schmitz. Sonia moved from Rwanda to Tucson four years ago and is currently enrolled in the LPN course at Pima Community College. When she first moved to America with her husband they found out they would be expecting a child and Sonia was worried about not having family there for her first pregnancy. Looking for community support, Sonia and her husband became involved with Healthy Families, a program supported by United Way of Tucson which provides free in-home assistance and education on parenting techniques. “I was a new Mom and had no family to help, Healthy Families came to our apartment and gave me information on what to expect for every trimester and techniques to help raise and play with the kids. I’m so grateful to United Way and the help they continue to provide for my entire family.” – Sonia Schmitz