Yes, you are right. I am going to relate these three items.

Let me first begin with Mexico, the first real vacation I have had since I started working at CAP Utah almost three years ago. The first lesson is don’t wait that long to take a vacation! The second is what happened while I was there. I got to Mexico and 2 days in I was checking my email (shame on me). I kept worrying and stressing about whether things were getting done, whether I left something unfinished, and what if families would suffer in the end. I had to realize that I was human and so were the people I worked with and the people we serve. So many times as professionals we forget that we are human. We want to design the perfect program, get the right outcomes, and change that person’s life. But I was left wondering – Shouldn’t we want to help each other as partners the way we want to help our clients? When we make mistakes shouldn’t we be there to support each other? When we have successes shouldn’t we also be there to celebrate? Me on the top of this pyramid thinks yes – and it was then that I realized everybody at home cared about the program just as much as me, and I was grateful for them.

To my second point – service. I was assisting a family with their taxes recently. (Yes, I volunteer for my own program – and you should too!) As I completed their return there was look of sadness, frustration, and a bit of exhaustion on this particular fathers face.  I didn’t understand because they were getting a fairly large refund. In speaking with this family I learned hardship was upon them more than ever and they were expecting a much larger refund. I do want to add that this is the issue with so many families this year.  I spent over 40 minutes with this family helping them understand why the refund was lower.  We went back in forth with questions and confusion and the family was feeling no better. In the end the farther made the decision that he would go somewhere else, to someone else where the refund would be bigger. My heart sank knowing that this in the end would hurt the family. I have to admit I was frustrated because I was giving advice, service, and accurate help. But the thing about service that I realized was that sometimes the most in need may not leave us with warm fuzzies and may not appreciate what we do. However, I would argue that is when we are truly serving – when it isn’t about us, when it is about our community and sometimes there doesn’t seem to be anything to get warm fuzzies over.

So you can see how clearly this is leading to optimism. The thing about partnerships, hardships, and communities is that we are in it together. Even if one of us is in Mexico. That family may go somewhere else but I know that along the way they are going to get the help they need because those of us who serve are in it for the long haul, and that is something to be very optimistic about. Mexico, Service, and Optimism; told you I’d relate them all (sort of).

Goose Or Nest?   Which will you have?Saving is hard, we know. But we also know that there’s a way to make it easier. Tax time is an exciting opportunity for all tax filers to save a portion of their refunds in a competitive, safe, and trusted product: a Series I U.S. Savings Bond.  CAP Utah alongside Earn It. Keep It. $ave It. are giving special attention to Series 1 U.S. Savings Bonds and are providing specialized volunteers at the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) sites to help you start saving for your “nest egg”.

How do Tax Time Bonds make saving easier?

1. You don’t need a bank account.
2. You only need $50 to get started. Choose to save as little as $50 of your tax refund with a bond.
3. U.S. Series I Savings Bonds are a competitive saving product. The current interest rate is 3.1%.
4. Tax Time Bonds are marked for inflation, which means you never get back less than you put in.
5. Tax time makes it simple. Just choose the amount you want to save and you’ll receive your bonds in the mail.
6. You earn interest right away. Your money starts growing immediately.
7. Bonds are safe. U.S. Series I Savings Bonds will never lose value and are backed by the U.S. Government.
8. Bonds have no fees. There are no fees to buy or cash in your bond.
9. Gift savings to your loved ones. Bonds can be purchased in someone else’s name – so you can help jumpstart the savings and dreams of the people you care about.

We know that money can be stressful and would like to share with you some easy savings tools, such as Series 1 U.S. Savings Bonds, that can help you reach financial stability.  If you are interested in our free tax preparation or would like to volunteer please sign-up on line at www.utahtaxhelp.org or dial 2-1-1.  And to learn more about Tax Time Savings Bonds, Form 8888, and how they can help you save for tomorrow at www.bondsmakeiteasy.org or by texting DREAMS to 41411 (text FACIL to 41411 for Spanish).

This is my thoughtful pose!

I don’t reflect on the past as much as I should. I am always looking to the future, but, as I approach my third tax season here at CAP Utah I wanted to reflect on a couple of really important and hard things that I’ve experience over the last year(ish).

The challenge of change.

The two biggest wrenches thrown my way over the last year were the loss of Casey (our beloved regional coordinator for SL and Tooele) and drastic changes in funding. I think for a moment or ten this year I couldn’t breathe. I was worried and I was stressed about my own capacity to handle the change. Could I be successful? Would I still be able to grow a program? How would I get everything done? And the honest answer is that change is hard, even for someone like me who really believes in the necessity for it. And to be even more honest, I didn’t always get everything done. But at the end of the day we did things different. We changed the budget and we did the best that we could and I have never for a second thought that low-income Utahns would suffer and that is all that I can ask.

Collaboration.

I have so many thoughts on this subject I’m going to let Webster help me:

collaborate |kəˈlabəˌrāt|verb [ intrans. ]

work jointly on an activity, esp. to produce or create something : he collaborated with a distinguished painter on the designs.

Based on the past year I would define it as such:

collaborate |kəˈlabəˌrāt|verb [ intrans. ]

work jointly on an activity that is unclear, confusing, difficult to understand, esp. to produce or create something wonderful after a long and continuous struggle  : She collaborated with many organizations, individuals, and co-workers to create a chance for low-income Utahns to succeed. We hope it works.

I think the assumption that collaboration is always simple was my gravest mistake. I thought it was going to be easy and once I understand that it’s hard – it will get easier. Talk about a Catch 22! I have to remind myself that when push comes to shove I am working with people who believe in doing more and doing better. When I am confused, stressed, or overwhelmed my partners in that collaborative battle are right there with me. Aren’t you all lucky! AND in the end that makes us all more alike than we think.

A piece about passion.

I’m approaching my 3^rd tax season and not yet even close to knowing enough. My first season I was overly optimistic, had so many ideas I thought I might explode and I felt invisible.  My second season I worked to improve my first season and now after a few seasons, some hard lessons, and exhausting hours my ‘umph’ has changed. This is where MY passion kicks in. It is easy to be enthusiastic at the beginning – it’s when after a long day or month or year I wake up and I go to work and I give 100% that’s how I know just how passionate I am. I want to be reliable and I want to provide the best program I can. I don’t always seem excited and I don’t always have the energy to sell taxes as the new sexy. What I do always do is think about families in need, about how I serve them, about how I can create opportunities – and luckily no matter my mood that is still what drives me.

Over the last year with all the change and collaboration I look to the New Year knowing that it may not be easier but I believe that together we can make a real difference. I’ve never been in this business to make myself feel better but make one person’s life better. To put it all in words: Poverty in Utah is real. It doesn’t have to be.

Hello and welcome to the new CAP Utah blog.  As you may know we have been sending out an email newsletter for a couple of years and decided it was time for a change and decided to try a blog.  We have enjoyed staying connected with our many partners via the newsletter format and think that it has been a valuable way to spread the word about our work and events.  However we wanted  to have the chance to let you get to know us, as an organization and staff, a little better.  The goal of our blog is to not only tell you what we are doing, but also why we are doing it, and maybe share some of the funny and interesting things that happen along the way.

Our first step in bringing this more personal aspect to our work is to introduce us (outside of the formal bio’s on our website).  So that is the desire with this first blog post – my intention is to share with you three fun and, perhaps previously unknown facts, about the staff of CAP Utah.  We currently have five full time staff and one part time staff member.  This past year has seen a lot of changes to our staff, in fact since last December we have said goodbye to 3 members of the team and welcomed 3 new ones.  Our staff are Melissa, Drew, Greg, Marcy, Paul and Tim.  All of us are very different, but that is what makes us such a great team.  Here we go:

Melissa (Associate Director)

• Next time you see Melissa ask her for her story involving a machete, an orphanage and Honduras.
• There is currently a ‘pool’ in the office predicting when Melissa will be getting engaged, it is currently in it’s second year.
• If you have no idea what Melissa is talking about – you are not alone – she is notorious for talking about things that have nothing to do with the current conversation.

Drew (Policy Analyst)

• Drew loves it when people tell him he looks young.
• Until recently Drew did not use his TV and watched movies solely on his iPhone and would often boast about his ‘great set-up’.
• Drew is the only person in our office who really understands Twitter and refuses to tell us what it’s all about.

Greg (Regional Coordinator)

Greg is one of our newest staff members  – he only started last week, so we don’t know many funny stories about him, but here’s what we do know:

• He was an awesome VITA site coordinator for 6 years and each year swore he wouldn’t come back (and now it’s his job).
• Greg wore a top hat to his daughters wedding.
• He is married to the lovely Sheila, who works for SLCAP.

Marcy (Financial Integration Coordinator)

• While eating Schwarma in Spain, Marcy swallowed her wedding ring. Making that the 2nd time she lost her wedding ring.
• Marcy once thought she saw a polar bear by the side of the road while driving home from Snowbird (it turned out to be a mountain goat).
• Marcy also was thrown out of trunk or treat…which you can ask her about when you meet her.

Paul (Executive Director)

• Every book Paul reads involves a child being kidnapped and the surrounding mystery.
• Paul cannot type – FACT.
• Paul used to be an avid vegetarian but now practically every lunchtime finds him at McDonalds.

Tim (Community Collaborations Coordinator)

• Tim once bought a monkey called Coco in the jungle of Peru, who proceeded to poop on his shoulder, so the guy he bought it from took it back.
• Until 1987 Tim was the only left-handed, red headed non-Mormon in the state of Utah (Tim has been unable to provide supporting documentation to back up this claim).
• Tim finished his MPA this week (December 6th)- Congrats Tim.

So there you have it, first blog post done and some, in certain cases embarrassing, facts about the team here at CAP Utah.  Hopefully you feel as though you know us a little better.  We plan on posting once a week, so check back often for some great posts about all of the exciting, and sometimes challenging, projects we are working on.

Paul