In September, Prosperity Now launched the second iteration of the VITA Leadership Institute, through generous support from the Wells Fargo Foundation. The VITA Leadership Institute (VLI) aims to train a diverse class of ten emerging VITA leaders to build their capacity to expand and scale free, high-quality, and racially equitable tax preparation services for low-income taxpayers in their communities. Over the next year, we are working with our cohort to build the VITA leadership capacity through peer learning calls, one-on-one individualized technical assistance, and support for local EITC Awareness Day events, which will all culminate in a digital toolkit of lessons learned that we share with the entire Taxpayer Opportunity Network. This month, we are spotlighting one of our cohort members, Lisa Stroschein, Becker County Senior Coordinator at MAHUBE-OTWA Community Action Partnership in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota.  

Tell me a little bit about your organization. What do you do? Who do you serve? 

MAHUBE-OTWA Community Action Partnership is a private, non-profit corporation located in rural Minnesota. We primarily serve the five counties of Mahnomen, Hubbard, Becker, Otter Tail and Wadena. Covering more than 5,308 square miles. Our Mission is to empower people to achieve self- sufficiency. We offer many programs including: Headstart, Energy Assistance, Housing, Family Health, VITA, and many more. These programs help those who are low to moderate income, seniors. MAHUBE-OTWA has been in operation for 60 years this year! 

 What are some successes you would like to highlight about your VITA work? How has your VITA program impacted your community? 

Our tax program has been hosted at MAHUBE-OTWA for over 40 years. First as a AARP TCE and then slowly our sites merged into the four current sites that we operate now all under VITA. We operate sites in Mahnomen, Hubbard, Becker and Wadena Counties. Our biggest treasure is that all tax preparation is done by volunteers. We have several volunteers that have been with us for over 20 years! The consistency in volunteers has created a trust within the community that is invaluable. 

What tools, resources, etc. have helped make your work a success? 

Since the COVID pandemic we’ve increased our use of technology- this has really accelerated our program! With the technical assistance calls and then partnerships from Prosperity Now we are implementing a “Drop Off’ method this season, similar to what was done during COVID however with the guidance, support and technology we feel that we will improve our service delivery and be able to offer services to clients that maybe struggle to come to the office during “normal” business hours. We also encourage our clients to utilize the free online filing options such as FSA. We are also hosting MAHUBE-OTWA’s first Tax-a-thon this season! This is a do-it-yourself option where clients can come in, utilize our equipment but file their taxes themselves. We will have volunteers on hand to answer any tax questions and staff available for technology support. The hope is that this will allow clients who have normally been too apprehensive to file their own taxes for whatever reason to do so with that tax volunteer there as reassurance! Our hope is that with the tax-a-thon clients will gain the knowledge and confidence to file next year on their own!   

What are you looking forward to most within the VITA Leadership Institute? 

Being able to go to VITACon was really a great experience! I am new to the role of Site Coordinators and to build relationships and connections has been my favorite part of the Leadership Institute in addition to the support of Prosperity Now. I would have never made the connections to other VITA partners without this opportunity. During VITACon I was able to sit with Site Coordinators from across the country and ask questions about their sites and their processes. 

What has motivated you to be a part of the Taxpayer Opportunity Network (TON)? 

The work I do at MAHUBE-OTWA CAP and the purpose of TON align in a way that it was an easy decision to want to participate! TON is helping to drive the same messages that we see within Community Action. We want the systems that we work in to be fair and equitable to all and a lot of that comes down to advocacy and policy work in addition to the day-to-day programs. 

What about you? What has led you to do this work? What drives you? 

I have always loved working with the senior population, I have been a licensed social worker for over ten years now and have always worked with seniors from the time I was 16. When I started at MAHUBE-OTWA I never thought I’d be working in such a Macro level of practice; I was always working one to one with clients, and I still get that, but I also get to have a seat at the table when it comes to programing, policies, and advocating for our clients and that has expanded beyond just seniors into all our clients. We find that many of our families are intergenerational and being someone that can be that bridge from Headstart to VITA to Senior Services has been really rewarding. I’ve always been someone who just gets it done and I with the support I’ve been given can tackle those systems that were once roadblocks of helping someone and that is more rewarding than I can explain.