Special Projects Director, Central California Legal ServicesAs a native of Fresno, Manuel felt it was important to help the community in which he was raised.
That is why he got involved five years ago to help coordinate a free tax preparation service (
I-CAN! E-File) and the reason he is dedicated to seeing WE Connect work in the Central Valley.
Fresno's event marked the fourth year he has worked with First Lady Maria Shriver to make this happen and it appears their collaboration is gaining traction.
When Manuel started this campaign, they had just seven people use the free tax preparation services online. To date, he estimates nearly 1,500 will have taken advantage of the service at the adult center in Fresno.
"We're really excited. That's an incredible jump and we're barely scratching the surface," Manuel said.
As Special Projects Director for
Central California Legal Services (CCLS) Manuel is at the forefront of providing free legal assistance to low income families in the Central Valley.
Additionally, CCLS provides outreach and education to the community with issues such as taxes, unemployment insurance benefits, and Medi-Cal/health care issues, to name a few.
Manuel also works in conjunction with
The Fresno Health Consumer Center (FHCC), a united effort of legal service agencies skilled and experienced at addressing the health care problems of consumers.
FHCC seeks to help low income residents in Fresno County get access to health care services and provides free information and individual assistance on a variety of health care programs.
Manuel is also focused on the
Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), because he knows there is a large portion of money that has the potential to get into the hands of those that need it.
"When we spoke to Maria about the EITC, we shared our concerns about how all this money went unclaimed," Manuel said.
According to Manuel, there is nearly $45 million in EITC money that goes unclaimed in Central Valley every year, $26 million in Fresno alone.
That got the attention of the First Lady.
"The next thing you know, we were planning the first event in Fresno," Manuel said.
Manuel is dedicated to letting people know that there are free services in the community and wants them to be able to access them without having to pay anything out of pocket.
"We don't know why a lot of this money goes unclaimed, but we discovered in our surveys that many folks didn't know these services were available. They didn't know about EITC and other credits that they are eligible for," Manuel said.
Manuel wants people to realize there are a host of agencies, non-profits, government entities and individuals alike who want people to access free services.
"Many times it is intimidating. For example, with taxes, people associate it with the IRS and that's a big concept to get past," Manuel said.
"Certainly when it comes to taxes, we've demystified the idea of taxes and shown many people that they don't have complicated tax issues."
He also believes WE Connect can help to shed that fear and bring people into the fold that may have been reluctant in the past.
"WE Connect is a wonderful program because it does highlight free services that are here in the community that many people aren't aware of," Manuel said.
"By people coming to this event, they will be able to get the services they need and that will help them economically, especially in these tough economic times."
Manuel ultimately believes that along with WE Connect, CCLS will be able to bridge the gap to bring awareness to the Central Valley.
"In the end, we've created a simple program that people can access, utilize, and know that it will benefit them," Manuel said.
