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• Nonprofit Strategies: Tax clinic helps low-income families obtain valuable credits

  Nonprofit Strategies: Tax clinic helps low-income families obtain valuable credits

  One of the most powerful tools the federal government has to help lowincome families move toward financial stability, the low-income tax credit, is underutilized on the Central Coast. A family of five earning less than $24,000 per year may be eligible for a credit of approximately $5,000. This infusion of money helps millions of working families nationwide stay out of poverty.

  To guard against abuse, the IRS audits families receiving the low-income tax credit at twice the rate of other tax filers.

  Until now, these families on the Central Coast had to hire a CPA or enrolled agent or represent themselves during the audit process. Fear of being audited and a lack of understanding of the tax code have deterred lowincome families from claiming the credit.

• A boost for local counseling

  A boost for local counseling

  A collaborative project between the Community Counseling Center of San Luis Obispo County and Transitions Mental Health Association will provide free counseling and therapy to people living with severe mental illness in San Luis Obispo and Arroyo Grande.

  Therapists will be available to assist clients at two wellness centers run by Transitions Mental Health in those cities.

  Until now counseling wasn’t offered among the other programs offered at the centers, such as peer and support groups, and job and housing assistance.

• San Luis Obispo County execs share their hopes for the new year

  San Luis Obispo County execs share their hopes for the new year

  As we kick off 2012 today and make our own New Year’s resolutions, we asked 12 top local executives to share theirs.

  Most, like State Parks official Nick Franco, shared business goals to invest in staff, expand their business or maintain services in spite of the economy.

  Franco, for example, wants to find partners to keep Limekiln State Park and Morro Strand State Beach open, even though they are slated for closure this summer. Blake Irving, chief product officer of Yahoo!, wants to progress toward reaching $10 billion in annual revenue, 1 billion users and becoming a top-10 brand worldwide.

• UPDATE: Off-campus WOW activities still allowed, Cal Poly officials say

  UPDATE: Off-campus WOW activities still allowed, Cal Poly officials say

  Cal Poly’s orientation coordinator has drafted a letter apologizing for confusion about the Week of Welcome programming. WOW students will continue to participate in off-campus activities such as hiking, kayaking and downtown visits, she said.

• Viewpoint: Mitchell made Cuesta stronger

  Viewpoint: Mitchell made Cuesta stronger

  As Cuesta College’s fourth president, I had the very good fortune of following President Grace Mitchell, and I saw what a strong, wise president she had been.

  By 1999, Dr. Mitchell had accomplished so much work that continued the college’s excellence in its achievements and set the foundation for its next 20 years. Under her leadership, both the college and the Cuesta Foundation grew in size and impact.

  The well developed 1991 Educational and Facilities Master Plan for the SLO Cuesta Community College District and the 1996 plan for the North County Campus were foundational in vision and projection of educational facilities for both the San Luis Obispo and North County campuses.