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Regina Howard lives in the Bronx, New York City. She works for Dress for Success, an organization that helps low-income women with professional clothing, career services, and one-on-one support.

Howard is the kind of person many women looking for jobs would want to meet—compassionate and no-nonsense. She sees her work as a ministry. Although Dress for Success is not a religious organization, “I get to give women real tangible things that they need right now,” Howard says. “Jesus didn’t say sit in a pew… He said you have to work in your community.”

Howard never forgets that she might very well havecome to Dress for Success as a client rather than asan employee. She, her husband James, and their fourchildren have benefited from the EITC for severalyears now.

Hummel, who lives in Staunton, VA, was left completely on her own before she was 18. At various times since then, she worked as many as three jobs at a time to support her children and has combined working with going to school and running her own photography business. Her daughters—Ellise (15), Alexis (9), and Isabelle (7)—are growing fast and keep this single mother very busy.

Yet Hummel is committed to helping others even though her life can be hectic. Sometimes her volunteerism creates unexpected opportunities. While volunteering with the Big Brothers/Big Sisters program, she went to a social services office with the family she was paired with. The phone was ringing unanswered, so Hummel picked up the phone and answered the caller’s question. Her initiative led to a job in the office—her first-ever with health insurance.

“If some of this basic information about finances was available to everyone, imagine the kinds of problems people would be able to prevent themselves from getting into,” says Rosa Diaz.

Diaz says that before she began taking financial classes, she would not have been able to talk about different financial strategies and how she handles her household’s budget. For example, she did not know that if you apply for a credit card at a department store and are turned down, it lowers your credit score. “I don’t think people realize that as you keep trying to get credit, you’re actually less and less likely to get it, because your credit score is going down.”

Turner noticed that after the monthly communion service at her church, most of the loaf of specialty bread was left. She asked her pastor what happened to it after the service. He replied that it was often fed to the ducks. So Turner now asks for it. “So that’s like an $8 loaf of bread… it’s kind of funny, but it’s something we can eat.”

She is also studying for a bachelor’s degree in child psychology, which will help her get a promotion at work. In the long term, Turner wants to be a school psychologist. Here, too, she has carefully pieced together the support she needs to complete her education.