PATRICIA’S STORY

When she was discharged after five years, Patricia found few employment opportunities commensurate with her US Air Force training and experience.

Then, after her divorce, Patricia was raising four children by herself. “I was always working two or three jobs just to keep my head above water,” she says. “I managed until I needed surgery and couldn’t work for almost a year.” Patricia contacted Veterans Leadership Program, a United Way-funded agency and Money in Your Pocket Coalition partner. “I’d been so busy trying to keep it all together that I didn’t ask for help until I was almost homeless.”

Patricia is employed again, but her income doesn’t allow for such extras as getting help with her taxes. “I don’t feel confident doing my own taxes,” she says. “And I don’t have the money to pay to have them done.” At a Money in Your Pocket Coalition tax site, Patricia sat down with Annie, a United Way volunteer tax preparer. Patricia was thrilled when Annie told her that she was entitled to a refund. She says, “I’ve been at the bottom, trying to pull myself up. That refund makes a big difference.”