CEDAM’s Director of Economic Initiatives, Madeleine March-Meenagh, visited one of their free tax preparation expansion grantees one week before Tax Day.

I spent a day at the Marshall Street Armory in Lansing, watching the United Way of South Central Michigan’s free tax preparation team in action one week before Tax Day. It might have been crunch time, but the space felt steady, warm, and deeply connected.

United Way of South Central Michigan (UWSCMI), a CEDAM member, welcomed CEDAM and our communications partners at Redhead Creative Consultancy, so we could grab some photos and video of their incredible volunteers helping folks file their taxes. We arrived hoping to replace stiff stock images of people in suits with real people to help raise awareness of free tax prep services and recruit more volunteers for our Michigan Economic Impact Coalition (MEIC) partners, like UWSCMI.

CEDAM convenes the MEIC, a statewide network of free tax preparation providers dedicated to expanding access to high‑quality, no‑cost income tax services for low-and moderate-income households, seniors, and people with disabilities. 

CEDAM doesn’t provide services directly, so I really enjoyed spending a day on-site with one of our long-time partners. There’s so much I could (and want) to share about the time I got to spend at UWSCMI, but the thing I’m definitely taking with me is a phrase I heard over and over again: 

“I’m going to take care of you.”

What That Promise Looks Like in Practice

The biggest thing I want people to understand is that these programs are by the community, for the community. And that promise–I’m going to take care of you–wasn’t just said once. It was said many times over, and yet didn’t lose its earnestness. 

I met a client who lives just a few blocks from me. Another Lansing resident walked in with a question, and even during the busiest time of the season, staff made time for him. I saw a client hug a volunteer member on the way out. I saw volunteers who have been doing this work for 20 and 30 plus years. I saw fresh donuts from Kalamazoo brought in by the VITA director as a thank you. I saw the VITA mobile, the best ad on the block, parked outside.

And I saw something people don’t usually associate with taxes: smiles, laughter (I swear!), relief, and gratitude.

One client spotted his cousin across the room; neither knew the other would be there. “Small world,” a volunteer said. “Sure is,” he replied.

In each appointment and around every corner, I heard variations of the same comfort:

“Take your time.”  “We’ll figure it out.”  “I’m going to take care of you.”

That’s the kind of connection we’re all looking for, I think. 

Taxes Are Personal (And The Care Should Be, Too)

Filing taxes means answering some of the most personal questions in your life:

How much money did you make? How did you make it? Are you married? Do you have kids? Where did you live? Who did you live with? The list goes on and on. 

Volunteers hear the details of people’s lives in the stories that accompany the answers. 

I sat in on appointments where volunteers talked through every step:

• “Let’s review everything to make sure your information is correct.”
• “You’ll need to mail your City return in this envelope or drop it off downtown. They don’t accept electronic filing.”
• “None of your income is taxable, so everything you earned is coming back to you.”
• “Here you can see the EITC you earned…and the Home Heating Credit, too.”

I heard about a client who had been quoted $600 elsewhere for a fairly simple and increasingly common return. She drives for Uber. The volunteers here helped her for free. I heard another client who had gone to a paid preparer for years, just to find out that she owed thousands in back taxes over the past several years. The free tax preparation team helped her file her city, state, and federal returns, and then discussed potential garnishment and payment plans. 

“Thank you so much! See you next year.”

Another client came in worried about a delayed refund. Staff helped him call the Michigan Department of Treasury, walked him through questions they might ask, and explained how to avoid the issue next year. When it was resolved, the preparer smiled and said:

“I told you I was going to take care of you.”

And she had.

It’s Not Too Late to File

It might be Tax Day, but that doesn’t mean the doors are about to close at the Marshall Street Armory (or on the VITA mobile for that matter). No-cost, high-quality tax preparation services remain available to residents statewide.

“We’ll be here,” said Krystal Marshall, the VITA director at the UWSCMI. “We can help with current-year and prior-year returns. If folks have questions about letters they get from the IRS or Treasury, we can help. We’ll be doing community events on the VITA mobile. We’ve got a lot coming up.”

UWSCMI is always welcoming new clients, new taxpayers, and newcomers to the community. Their mission? Marshall says, “We are truly here to serve those who need us most!”

You can see if there are in-person services near you and access trusted online resources at MichiganFreeTaxHelp.Org. They’ll take care of you.