Shawn Grady has generated an impressive impact in expanding economic opportunity and organizational capacity at Community Link in Charlotte, NC. As one of the eleven VISTA members serving in The Collaborative’s statewide VISTA Project, Shawn has established and strengthened some valuable community connections in addition to integrating some creative innovations to develop his agency’s Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program into a more dynamic and productive initiative. The capacity he’s built into this VITA program has not only increased Community Link’s ability to provide VITA services to the community’s residents, but it has expanded opportunities for local residents and employees to serve as certified VITA volunteers while also giving local college students the chance to gain valuable work experience (as program coordinators) as they gain college credit.

Shawn is responsible for generating and implementing the concept of incorporating an online component into Community Link’s recruitment and scheduling strategy. This method of online coordination streamlined the record-keeping and marketing logistics in addition to providing Community Link with an extra platform to reach more potential volunteers through the ever-reaching expanse of the internet. Community Link’s VITA program received a 75% increase in the number of volunteers recruited (compared to last 2010-2011). A total of 145 volunteers were recruited for the VITA program; 110 of those volunteers attained their VITA certifications and actively served throughout the tax season (January-April), collectively amassing over 1800 hours of service provided.

Shawn also spearheaded the effort to develop a Volunteer Internship Program for students from local colleges and universities. He reached out to 9 of the local academic institutions to recruit business, accounting, and graduate students for the internship; overall, he successfully attained approval to recruit students from the UNC-Charlotte, DeVry, Johnson C. Smith University, Johnson and Wales University, Piedmont Community College, and Charlotte School of Law. Shawn successfully recruited 4 students to serve as VITA Site Coordinators for the program; in return for their service, the students would receive course credits or official volunteer hours from their respective institutions. He’s also developed program manuals on the implementation of Community Link’s VITA program and its VITA internship.

In addition to recruiting volunteers and interns for the VITA program, Shawn has demonstrated quite an aptitude for engaging community partners as well. For Community Link’s EITC Awareness Day (January) and Veteran’s EITC Day (February), Shawn enlisted the help of Duke Energy, Piedmont Natural Gas, BB&T, and Bank of America to provide educational services around the subjects of energy conservation and the importance of saving money. He’s also recruited the Urban League of the Central Carolinas as a site to host the trainings for the VITA volunteers and as a future VITA site.

Shawn’s contributions have certainly fortified the efforts being made by Community Link’s VITA management team which have translated into some very exciting outcomes for the VITA program: • Expecting over $8 million in tax refunds • Over $1 million in Earned Income Credit awarded
• 60% of VITA Customers were new this year • 98% rated their service as good/great