Guest Article: Todd Goehle, Vice President of Operations and Strategy

“I’m frequently asked ‘What is the biggest issue or need in our community?’ I tell them, ‘Poverty.’ They often respond, ‘No, what is the biggest issue…is it employment, transportation, etc.?’ I again say, ‘It’s Poverty.”

Central New York has the potential for a “moment.” The arrival of Micron Technologies, Inc., the removal of the I-81 viaduct for a Community Grid option, and the rebuilding of Syracuse Public Housing can offer transformative possibilities to deliver social mobility, economic promise, and inclusionary justice for those in our community who are often left behind. Still, the promise of a better future must wrestle with the legacies of the past and the conditions of the present. In particular,

• The city of Syracuse has the second highest rate of childhood poverty in the nation, with 45.8% of city youth under the age of 18 living in poverty according to 2018-2022, 5-year American Community Survey Estimates (ACS).
• White Median Household Income (MHI) ($77,804) was 112% greater than Black MHI ($36,640) in Onondaga County according to 2018-2022, 5-year ACS. Onondaga County’s racial income gap has widened from 97% in 2018, when The Brookings Institute found Onondaga County and the city of Syracuse to have the “seventh worst racial income gap among the nation’s aging industrial cities” (p. 8)1F
• Between February 2023 and February 2024, the Syracuse Metropolitan area experienced the greatest one-year, average monthly rent increase in the nation at 22% (with the average rent of a one-bedroom apartment being $1050 a month).
• Onondaga County is aging. Its 65-and-over population increased by 28.8% from 2011 to 2021. Syracuse’s 65-and-over population increased by 42.8% during the same period. The number of older adults living in poverty in the City of Syracuse increased by 110% during the same period.

These realities provide the context for PEACE, Inc.’s “2024 Community Needs Assessment (CNA) for Onondaga County”. The CNA is released every three years by PEACE, Inc., which – as the Community Action Agency for Onondaga County – serves around 9000 clients annually and pursues a mission “to help people in the community realize their potential for becoming self-sufficiency.” By integrating qualitative and quantitative data, the CNA examines the causes and conditions of poverty throughout Onondaga County. It also embraces an inclusive, justice-informed approach. First, the CNA integrates public research conducted by PEACE, Inc.’s community partners, including CNY Fair Housing, the City of Syracuse, the Central New York Community Foundation, and more. Second, the authors of the CNA conducted extensive surveys, interviews, and community conversations with more than 200 low-income youth, families, and seniors as well as direct human/social services staff members. Not only did the experiences of those living in poverty drive the findings, but their voices were also used and often fully cited in the assessment, humanizing general poverty statistics and ensuring both readability and relatability. In sum, we sought to tell engaging stories that could inform decision-making and advocacy both within PEACE, Inc. and the broad community. From this approach, the CNA makes five major claims:

1) Redlining, Racial Covenants, Urban Renewal, and other discriminatory policies of the past are more than just footnotes of twentieth-century history. Nor are they solely the problems of the City of Syracuse, as the CNA explores around the issue of housing (pp. 77-84). Rather, racial inequalities have been systematized over time and have shaped the development of Onondaga County towards its present state (pp. 31-40). In Onondaga County, community needs must be analyzed and met using a lens of equity. It must include the voices and experiences of those who are often overlooked, if not outright ignored. Tied to this claim,

2) The barriers faced by low-income Onondaga County residents during the COVID-19 pandemic were not new. Rather, COVID-19 exacerbated and intensified long-standing structural insecurities and inequalities, a contention becoming all the more apparent in the pandemic’s aftermath and around housing crises (pp. 77-84), mental health (pp. 66-69), opioids (pp. 70-72) domestic violence, and more. The CNA also presents evidence that low-income families are struggling to adjust after the removal of unprecedented levels of pandemic-era assistance and in the face of rising inflation that is spiking costs across the board (pp. 43-55). In response to these developments then,

3) A holistic, layered understanding of poverty – one that acknowledges multiple histories, barriers, and strengths – is necessary if diverse, low-income households are to reach self-sufficiency. Low-income households face many challenges which are often out of their control. When reading the CNA, note the frequency in which one need can inform, shape, and find meaning alongside other needs. Also, when reading the CNA, note the resiliency and resourcefulness of Onondaga County’s low-income residents. Such descriptions are apt ones when explaining the work being pursued by local nonprofit staff. Thus,

4) To tackle the complexities of poverty in Onondaga County, robust and flexible capacity-building measures must take place within the Human/Social Services Sector. Low wages, restrictive funding streams, high turnover, and burnout are hampering the effectiveness of local nonprofits and their community-focused staff to pursue their missions (pp.112-118). And last,

5) Sustainable advocacy and power-building campaigns must continue to be nurtured and promoted to mobilize communities, to overcome a lack of belonging, and to push inclusivity as well as community-driven decision-making (pp. 118-120).

Following the CNA’s public release in April, PEACE, Inc. staff have shared their findings to civic groups and community coalitions, schools and human service organizations, elected officials and appointees, and more. Most importantly, the staff have returned to – and have continued dialogues with – those who lent their voices and thoughts. For example, after sharing the CNA findings with interviewed Head Start parents, a staff member went on social media and saw a link to the agency’s Facebook page. A Head Start mother not only read the assessment in its entirety but also shared and cited the page number where she was quoted. When people feel heard, their motivation to improve the community rises. And herein lies the greatest takeaway. The CNA is not intended to be a static document. Rather, the data found within it -and the experiences shared in it- are all parts of evolving advocacy and planning processes that must be championed to ensure an equitable future for all in Central New York.

Guest Article: Todd Goehle, Community Engagement Director, PEACE, Inc.

Albert Einstein quipped, “The hardest thing in the world to understand is the income tax.” If a Nobel Prize Winning Physicist can’t understand it, what are the rest of us supposed to do? Especially when we have to organize financial documents and navigate unfamiliar tax terms? The stakes are even higher for Central New York’s residents of under-resourced neighborhoods and those who have been historically excluded from opportunity. Where can one turn when legacies of discrimination (i.e. racism, ageism, ableism, and more) and neighborhood disinvestment continue to limit one’s access to a full tax return and stabilizing if not potentially transforming capital?

One critical resource is the free tax preparation service offered through the IRS Initiative named VITA (Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Grant Program). In Central New York, VITA partners with the CNY CA$H Coalition, a United Way of CNY Initiative, to “help low- to moderate-income individuals, persons with disabilities, elderly people, and limited English speakers file their taxes each year.” This year, any household making under $60,000 a year will be eligible for the service. To ensure confidentiality and quality, all VITA volunteers must pass a series of certification exams. As a CNY CA$H Coalition member, PEACE, Inc. offers the largest local location and one of only a handful of year-round, Free Tax Preparation sites in the state. Last year alone, more than 1600 households with an average annual income of $25,000 took advantage of PEACE, Inc.’s program.

VITA sites not only help underserved clients overcome the average $220 tax preparation fee and earn a full refund; They also combat predatory tactics such as refund anticipation loans and checks that impose excessive fees and take money out of the pockets of people working hard to make ends meet. For example, this past summer, a mother of two came to PEACE, Inc.’s Free Tax Prep Program. Earlier in the year, a national tax service prepared the mother’s taxes for the year. The firm charged $680 for the service and a loan that advanced her tax return. The story worsens. Like many during COVID, the woman required assistance e-filing her 2020 taxes. The firm again looked to charge $680, yet this time requiring an upfront fee to prepare any back tax return. If not for PEACE, Inc., the woman would have paid a total of $1360 in fees, more than 15% of the mother’s taxable income for the year.

To raise awareness about such practices and the additional Child and Earned Income Tax Credits (CTC, EITC) available to filers in 2022, the Central New York Community Foundation (CNYCF) and the EITC Funders Network partnered to fund a number of local organizations. CNYVitals previously discussed the social media efforts pursued by Layla’s Got You. PEACE, Inc. sought to recruit additional volunteers and to target traditionally underserved residents in high poverty neighborhoods of Syracuse. Data proved critical in 4 respects. First, PEACE, Inc.’s COVID-19 Community Needs Assessment and Chronicle from June 2020 identified the need for unrestricted capital in neighborhoods, where Black, Latino, Asian/Pacific Islander and Native American people live. These same neighborhoods were disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Second, census tract and IRS data showed those places where residents had yet to claim or historically don’t take advantage of tax credits. Third, members of PEACE, Inc. used CNYCF Life Needs Assessment Survey Data to identify those agencies with clients who would be good fits for the program because they responded that they “didn’t have enough money to meet their needs and to pay their bills.” Finally, analyzing internal data further justified PEACE, Inc.’s move to a year-round site. As revealed above, greater outreach yielded many new clients who required past tax season preparation or amendments in the offseason but lacked the funds to meet IRS deadlines.

Embracing a data-driven approach, PEACE, Inc.’s Free Tax Prep Program returned nearly 3 million dollars to the Central New York economy and an average tax return of nearly $2200. Perhaps more importantly, the program served far more low-income households than in previous years. Clients themselves shared how a quality return brought short-term stability and long-term economic mobility for their households. For example:

-KM, a mother of four, earned $14,879 at her job. Because of the stimulus and tax credits, KM received a tax return of $19,272. As KM explained, “the money will help me and my family get a new car, daycare to work more hours, and the supplies that the baby needs right now.”

-RT, a mother of 3, earned just over $25,000 at her job. Thanks to tax credits, RT earned a refund nearly equal her income, $18,374. As she shared, “I will be putting this refund on a new home for me and my kids. So I’m very thankful and more so excited that this year, I worked so hard and my family can use this to go towards a new home.”

With a new tax season upon us, the CA$H Coalition and PEACE, Inc. are seeking volunteer tax preparers, administrative assistants, interpreters, and greeters/screeners. Hours are flexible. Training is free. Want to make a true impact in our community? To learn more, visit https://www.peace-caa.org/programs/taxes/ or call 315.634.3756 today!