Editor’s note: The contact information in this story has been updated.
People who used the Social Development Commission to help file their taxes will be able to resume appointments as soon as next week.
The SDC’s Volunteer Income Tax Assistance, or VITA, program is one of many social services that was put on hold when the agency suspended operations and laid off its employees in late April.
La Casa de Esperanza is scheduling appointments starting Monday, June 17 at the Internal Revenue Service, 211 W. Wisconsin Ave., for taxpayers who participated in SDC’s VITA program.
Clients need an appointment to be served.
La Casa staff and its volunteers, as well as volunteers from SDC, will help taxpayers at the IRS office for approximately 30 days, according to a news release from La Casa.
Clients can use La Casa’s online appointment scheduler for VITA services (including at its main Waukesha office) or call La Casa’s Center for Financial Stability at 262-832-1534.
The board seeks help, support
As the SDC Board of Commissioners work on a plan to reorganize some of the agency’s programs, the commissioners seek help with managing the “extremely overwhelming” situation, according to board chair Barbara Toles.
The board met Thursday at the African American Chamber of Commerce of Wisconsin, 1920 N. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, where it spent most of the meeting in closed session to discuss legal matters.
Toles asked the community, public officials and individuals who have relevant expertise to help and support the SDC board as it works to reopen the agency.
“We recognize how important the programs and services are to the community,” Toles said. “We’re trying to work to at least get some of them back. And we need some help.”
The all-volunteer board cannot continue attempting to run SDC’s day-to-day operations indefinitely, Toles said, and needs volunteer administrative and financial assistance until it can hire staff.
Anyone interested in offering help to the Social Development Commission can contact Attorney William Sulton at 414-477-0088 or via email at william@sultonlaw.com.
Board welcomes new commissioner
Jackie Q. Carter, port director for Port Milwaukee, joined the SDC board after the Milwaukee Common Council approved her appointment by Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson on Tuesday.
Carter fills the seat formerly held by Melissa Buford, one of four commissioners who have left the board since SDC closed.
Here’s where you can learn more about the SDC’s closing and where to go for services
‘It’s heartbreaking’: Residents, vendors left in limbo after SDC’s closing
Opinion: Here’s how the Social Development Commission can make a comeback
Three takeaways from Thursday’s SDC Board of Commissioners meeting
The SDC has not paid its former employees. Now they seek answers.
Quick action helps 39 displaced SDC students graduate on time
What do you want to know?
Do you have questions you want answered about the SDC? Thoughts you want to share? We are here for you. Let us know what’s on your mind by emailing us or commenting. You can also text us through News414, and our reporters will work hard to get the answers you deserve.
Meredith Melland is the neighborhoods reporter for the Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service and a corps member of Report for America, a national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues and communities. Report for America plays no role in editorial decisions in the NNS newsroom.
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