Washington, D.C. (PRWEB) April 20, 2016
With tax day now in the rearview mirror, the Alliance for Strong Families and Communities—a national organization more than 450 members strong—wants to take a moment to thank the nation’s taxpayers and share the importance of what their contributions allow human serving nonprofits to achieve by building human potential in our communities.
“We can look around us at strong children and families to realize all we can accomplish through our tax dollars,” said Alliance President Susan Dreyfus. “What began with participation in Children’s Leadership Council’s #taxpayerpride campaign to shine light on the impact of taxpayer dollars, continues even after tax day.”
Consider the programs made possible at Alliance member UCAN in Chicago. There, taxpayers help to provide much needed counseling services and support for families suffering separation, abuse, and neglect, resources for foster care, teen parenting and family education, and programs for youth education, career readiness, and violence prevention.
Since it can sometimes be hard to envision your hard-earned tax dollars in action, the Alliance and UCAN gathered some examples of what it looks like “on the ground:”
- Tanya* secured a job as an assistant at a real estate firm after participating in a job club that taught her to write resumes, complete applications, and manage interviews.
- Eric* left his past street life, which included gang involvement, to obtain a position as a Safe Passage watcher for a local elementary school, where he now encourages other youth to make healthier life choices.
- Natalia* became the youngest columnist on the team at the Chicago Defender at age 14, and is now (at age 27) in the final stages of accreditation to start her own nonprofit to teach life skills to teenagers.
Tax dollars at work also equated to:
- Otherwise unemployed youth working more than 28,000 hours
- 120 participants serving in the local violence prevention program
- More than 94 percent of youth and families believing UCAN has given them opportunities to improve their future
- Saving the equivalent of four newborn lives per year through UCAN’s Teen Parenting Service Network
“Similar stories occur across our member network because of taxpayers,” Dreyfus said. “The purpose of our country’s tax structure is to support the shared well-being of all our residents—young, old, and in between. When we do this, we make sure everyone has the opportunity to thrive.”
The Alliance and its member network take seriously their role in shepherding these dollars. They work to raise private sector money that allows them to supplement and make the most efficient use of taxpayer investment. “We believe when we support well-being and building human potential, we make sure everyone can reach their potential and fully contribute to our communities,” Dreyfus said. In turn, communities grow stronger. Through this work, tax dollars are invested wisely in results that matter today and for years to come.
The Alliance for Strong Families and Communities is a national nonprofit organization dedicated to achieving a vision of a healthy society and strong communities for all children, adults, and families. The Alliance works for transformational change by representing and supporting its network of hundreds of nonprofit human serving organizations across North America as they translate knowledge into best practices that improve their communities. Working with and through its member network on leadership and advocacy, the Alliance strives to achieve high impact by reducing the number of people living in poverty; increasing the number of people with opportunities to live healthy lives; and increasing the number of people with access to educational and employment success. Go to alliance1.org for more information.
*Names changed