Exciting new tool!

ATTENTION, ATTENTION, ATTENTION! The Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services (ODJFS) are now offering clients the opportunity to report case changes online! Ohio Benefit Bank counselors can now assist clients applying for benefits through the benefit bank and help them make changes to their ODJFS case too! If you know someone who can take advantage of this wonderful tool send them to this website; https://odjfsbenefits.ohio.gov/SelfServiceSplash.jsf

A few tips for using the online tool:

To report changes, clients must know their case number, category, and sequence. These items can be found on the bottom of paperwork from ODJFS.

Remember to allow adequate time for information to be processed!

Healtcare Resources

Columbus sites: CLICK HERE for a great resource for healthcare referral.

2011 Tax Season Fast Approaching

2011 Tax Clinic Kit
Your guide to planning, preparing, and hosting your 2011 OBB Tax Clinic


OBB Marketing Order Form
Spread the word about The Ohio Benefit Bank

As the beginning of the year approaches, the Ohio Association of Second Harvest Foodbanks looks forward to tax season and the ability for thousands of Ohioans to gain access to tax credits and income disregards through The Ohio Benefit Bank's free income tax filing service.

Last year was monumental for so many reasons. As for the entire Ohio Benefit Bank network, over $34 million in taxes was received by over 43,000 Ohioans, who used the free Federal and State income tax service. For many of our host sites and partner organizations that help Ohioans with a plethora of different services, tax filing seemed like icing on the cake.

Most importantly, the stories that were heard last year from countless Ohioans still echo true today. So many times, Ohioans told of their thanks and appreciation to your organizations and agencies for helping when they thought there was no help left.

With the addition of the new Ohio Benefit Bank website, www.ohiobenefits.org, we hope to reach a record breaking number of Ohioans who seek to complete their Federal and State income tax applications. It is only through your help and determination that we can make that happen.

Over the coming weeks, we will start releasing the new tax information that is being designed for you to use and to help continue to make The Ohio Benefit Bank such a success.

If you have any questions please contact us in Central Ohio.

Thank you,

Ohio Association of Second Harvest Foodbanks

Home of The Ohio Benefit Bank

Happy Birthday Alice Nelson!

Alice Nelson is no ordinary client.  Alice and her grandson, Cameron, are discussed and scruntinzed at least once a week here at our office in Columbus, and her life story has been told to thousands of people all  across the state of Ohio.  Alice has been immortalized (ahem, fictionalized) in the OBB training book that I know you all have sitting next to your computer at all times, as it is so valuable to you. Alice is so important that our office commemorated her birthday last week (December 1st)  with a very special, very yummy birthday cake!   If you feel the need to contribute food and/or sweets to help celebrate Alice's birthday, your Central Ohio OBB team will gladly accept these goodies on Alice's behalf.  Check it out!  (Apologies for the photo of a half eaten cake.  Please keep in mind our office contains numerous AmeriCorps VISTAs who are always hungry.  And who love cake.)

Clark County Tax training

Attention Clark County Benefit Bank sites:

Your tax training has been moved to Monday, December 20th.  It is still from 9:30 am - 4:00 pm and it at the Lincoln Park Community Center.

Here is a link to our most current tax schedule for Central Ohio.

Hello, my name is Heather Pennington; I recently joined the Central Ohio team as a Community Trainer for The Ohio Benefit Bank through AmeriCorps VISTA. While the Community Trainer position is new to me, AmeriCorps is not. I served with AmeriCorps State in Licking County at a site that offered mentorship to at risk youth. After completing my first AmeriCorps term, I spent a few years working in the sales and customer service fields as well as the public service sector. Upon completion of my BA from The Ohio State University, I worked as a teacher and in the field of recreation. Through all of my experience I have learned so much, and I am still learning. I think the most valuable lesson to me, taught by my parents- though I now see it in others, is that self-sacrifice is the ultimate expression of commitment. I am very excited about my new adventure and am especially looking forward to getting out and making a difference in our communities.
I will be responsible for trainings for the Central Ohio region. Please Contact me at (614) 221-4336 ext. 350 or hpennington@oashf.org if you would like information on becoming a new site, upcoming trainings, or general questions.
I look forward to working with you

Having Trouble Understanding PIPP Plus?

If you or your clients are still having trouble understanding the newly implemented PIPP Plus program this Fact Sheet, produced by the Ohio Consumers Counsel may be helpful. The document is fairly in depth, but I think you will find it helpful.

Tax training changes

The following changes have been made to tax training dates across the region.  You can always access up to date trainings in the calendar on the right side of the blog, or you can view this document.

Knox County : January 24th (Opportunity Knox)
Morrow County: January 13th (Morrow County JFS)
Madison/Union County: January 7th (Madison County JFS)

Two more tax trainings

We just added two more tax trainings in Franklin County that you can sign up for.  They are February 3rd and February 15th at HandsOn Central Ohio. 

You can view these and all the other tax training dates available HERE. 

Interpreters for OBB sites?

When we (your AmeriCorps VISTAs and Regional Coordinator) do site visits we become aware of various barriers you (our sites) have in helping clients apply for benefits using The Benefit Bank.  Today, Zach and I met with a site that serves a public housing community, where over 14% of the residents are Somalian immigrants.  The counselors at the site want to help the residents, but don't have a relationship with translators, or any organization that offers translation servcies.

So our question to the Central Ohio network is this:  Do you know any individual volunteers or organizations than can supply translators, especially for Somalian or Spanish speaking clients?  

If you have any ideas of people who can help, please email Sarah at solinger@oashf.org. 

Counselor Supplements!

We are introducing an essential new tool for OBB counselors.  It can be hard to keep track of all the details involved in the application process for JFS administered benefits. That’s why we created this “JFS Cheat Sheet” to help explain the process to your clients.  This document was developed in partnership with your County Department of Job and Family Services. 

Here is how you can access this document now and anytime in the future:

           1. Here on our blog, scroll down until you see the counties we serve in Central Ohio, in the right sidebar  of the blog. (In red and blue)

 

2. Click on your county.

3. You will see your county name in the first top left section, and underneath it a link to your counselor “JFS Cheat Sheet,” followed by text that explains this is for all counselors to print.

  

 

4. Click the “JFS Cheat Sheet” link, which will take you to a Google Document containing a pdf version of the document.  You can print this document directly from the website, or you can download to your computer to save and print.  Please open it either way and print this document to have with you at all times when you are with a client.  

5. Each county is different, so if you work in multiple counties, click on the other county to print their counselor supplement page as well.  This is a work in progress, so keep checking back if a county doesn’t have one posted yet.  (The counties currently with completed supplements are limited to Morrow, Licking, Fairfield, Fayette, Franklin, Madison, Clark, and Champaign. 

6. If you have an corrections or additions, please email Sarah at solinger@oashf.org

Important Benefit Bank Changes!

New Help Desk Number

Effective November 11^th the new TBB Help Desk number will be: 855-TBB-HELP (855-822-4357).  

New Website:  

www.ohiobenefits.org

The new OBB site is up in running!  This website will serve as a portal for both self-serve clients and OBB counselors.  Please take a couple minutes to explore the new site.  You can access your counselor login there, as well as the Quick Check and Site Finder.  (These links are also all on the top of this blog). There are also all sorts of resources for clients.

OASHF Paper Plate Campaign

As many of you are aware, OASHF has launched a grassroots effort for Ohioans to have their voices heard by their elected officials; The Paper Plate Project. To help spread the word about the Paper Plate Project, a new website has been published: www.paperplateproject.org! On this website, individuals can complete virtual paper plates, view paper plates that fellow Ohioans have submitted and even order paper plates that OASHF will ship to organizations wishing to become involved in the project.

Our goal with this project is to collect over 50,000 paper plates from across the state that bring awareness to hunger, poverty and the multitude of issues that Ohioans are facing each and every day. There are many ways you and your team can become involved:

1. Post a link on your website drawing attention to the Paper Plate Project
2. Order plates that will give Ohioans you serve every day the opportunity to have their voices heard by their elected officials
3. Send the link out to your member agencies, so they become of this project and how they can become involved
4. Socialize the Paper Plate Project
1. Twitter
2. Facebook
3. Blogger

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate Charles Barber, cbarber@oashf.org, or Danielle Gray, dgray@oashf.org.

Capacity Building Grants Now Available

The Ohio Benefit Bank in partnership with the Governor's Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives is pleased to announce the availability of Free Tax Assistance Capacity Building Grants for this coming tax season.

The instructions/application information as well as the budget worksheet can be downloaded at: www.oashf.org/ohiobenefitbank.html

Below is a summary of the grant opportunity:

1. Organizations must agree to use The Ohio Benefit Bank to help Ohioans file their taxes free of charge or assist Ohioans in completing their Free Application for Federal Student Aid.

2. Maximum grant awards are $12,500 for existing Ohio Benefit Bank sites and $3,000 for organizations looking to start a new Ohio Benefit Bank site.

3. All grant applications are due by November 29, 2010 at 4 PM (EST).

Question may be directed to Joree Jacobs at the Ohio Association of Second Harvest Foodbanks at jjacobs@oashf.org.

Franklin County Winter Crisis Information

Attention Franklin County counselors:  We added a couple resources for you at the bottom of our Franklin County Resource page that give more information about IMPACT Communuty Action's HEAP program and their walk-in procedures.  If you are helping clients that need utility assistance in Franklin County, please look at these resources!

Click here for HEAP Fact Sheet

Click here for Walk-In Procedures document

Are you connected with a Community Action agency elsewhere in Central Ohio?  Let us know if you have resources that we can post to help clients in your area!

How to become and Ohio Benefit Bank counselor

Here is a presentation that explains the steps to becoming an OBB counselor. Just keep clicking the gray arrow at the bottom of the presentation box to navigate your way through the presentation. There is a text version of the presentation beneath the interactive box.

How to become an Ohio Benefit Bank counselor on Prezi

So you've always wanted to become an Ohio Benefit Bank counselor...

1. First, are you associated with an already established OBB site? If not:
1. Use our site finder to find an established site in your area, then contact the site to get approval to volunteer with them with the Ohio Benefit Bank.
2. "Wait!  I already work/go to church/volunteer/know of someplace that would be a great Benefit Bank site.  Can't I just do Benefit Bank there?"
3. Sure!  Check out our other post about how to become a new Benefit Bank site.

Once you're associated with a site, you then need to find a date you can attend training in your county.

1. Find the Google Training Calendar on the right hand side of this blog.  Click to open up the calendar and view upcoming training dates.
2. Register for the training by emailing an AmeriCorps*VISTA Community Trainer (contact information on the right sidebar of this blog as well).
1. Make sure you provide your full name, email, phone number in case we have to cancel due to inclement weather, and the site you are working with.

Remember:  All trainings are from 9:30 am - 4:00 pm.  You will receive an email a few days before the training with detailed location information.

 

How to become a new Benefit Bank site.

Here is a presentation that explains the steps to becoming a new OBB site.  Just keep clicking the grey arrow at the bottom of the presentation box to navigate your way through the presentation.  There is a text version of the presentation beneath the interactive box.

Become a Benefit Bank site on Prezi

So you want to become a new Ohio Benefit Bank site?  Before you decide, consider the qualifications:

1. No monetary cost
1. Free software, trainings, and marketing
2. Other costs
1. Human resources (make sure you have a solid volunteer or staff base that can be trained as counselors).
2. High speed internet and printer (The Benefit Bank is online software, so high speed internet is crucial.  A goal of The Benefit Bank is client education and preparedness, so you would have to print off helpful information and client applications.)

Got all that?  Great! To become a new site you first have to...

1. Attend a webinar
1. The webinar is an hour-long online introduction for the site administrator.  It goes over the privileges and responsibilities of becoming a site.
2. We offer a webinar once a week and it is online so you will be able to listen from your own computer and will not need to travel to attend.
2. Upon completion of the webinar you will be sent some online paperwork
1. Once you have completed the online paperwork you will officially be a site.

Next you will be able to have your employees and counselors attend trainings

1. This is a day long training (9:30 am - 4:00 pm) to teach new counselors how to access and operate the OBB software.

If you want to find out more or contact a representative, click on "Contact your local Benefit Bank Community Trainer" on the right hand side of this blog.

Energy Improvement Rebates available to Columbia Gas Customers

Columbia Gas has a program that allows customers to receive a deeply discounted energy audit ($50) to determine where and how to imporve energy efficiency. If the customer elects to have any of the recommended work done, the work will be completed with some pretty major rebates. Click here for more information.

Welcome new site: Marie Celeste Transitional Housing (Change From Within Ministries)

Our newest site is: The Marie Celeste Center of Transitional Living.  This is a faith based transitional housing program for female ex‐offenders that supports and makes referrals for employment, substance abuse, education and life skills services.

Transitional housing is available to female ex‐offenders in Columbus, Ohio it is located in the Franklinton neighborhood and can accommodate 20 residents, total. Residents live in the home and are required to participate in employment, substance abuse, education, and life skills counseling and training as needed. Length of stay ranges from seven months to one year, after which Center staff assist residents in locating permanent housing.

They will be serving the clients that they are housing only.  Welcome to our network!

HarvestCorps is Making a Difference

Many of you are familiar with the Ohio Association of Second Harvest Foodbanks' national service programs. If you are a counselor you may have been trained by an Americorps VISTA Community Trainer. Or perhaps your food pantry participated in the recent Hunger Study staffed by several Americorps members. OASHF currently manages a 74 member VISTA project, a 30 member Americorps State program, and a 100 member VISTA Summer Associate program.

Click here to view the Program Year 2009-2010 HarvestCorps report. If you are interested in hosting a national service member at your agency contact Rachel Diskin, rdiskin@oashf.org - VISTA, or Harmony Cox, harmony@oashf.org - State.

Welcome new site: Lincoln Park Neighborhood Center

The Springfield Metropolitan Housing Authority was awarded a Housing and Urban Development-sponsored "Neighborhood Networks Center" grant, the result being a new Benefit Bank site in Clark County called Lincoln Park Neighborhood Center. The mission of this site is  to improve computer access for Lincoln Park and SMHA residents, advance technical literacy, prepare residents for employment placement and advancement, and help bridge the digital divide for youth. The Neighborhood Networks Center will provide SMHA residents with access to computers and the Internet, job training and educational courses, and an additional setting for civic engagement and recreational opportunities. The Neighborhood Network Center will also provide increased opportunities to participate in new technology initiatives that are being planned for the Springfield community. 

 

This new site was also the host of our most recent Clark County counselor training, so a big thank you to them for hosting!  

www.smha-lpnnc.org

They are located at 1900 Huron Avenue, Springfield, OH, 45505.  Their main phone is 937.398.0611 and their appointment phone is 937.398.0612 or 937.398.0613.  They are not open to the public, and use The Benefit Bank by appointment only.