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Accomplish With Kylie: Prepare + Prosper Helps Low-Income Clients With Taxes

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Not many people love to do taxes, but at Prepare + Prosper there are 550 volunteers who not only love doing taxes, but volunteer to do it in their spare time.

"During the tax season we do have a good time," George Ann Burns said.

George Ann has been volunteering at Prepare + Prosper for more than a decade.

"I think the first four years I volunteered we were still doing paper copies," George Ann said.

She used to work at the IRS and now helps people who otherwise can't afford tax help.

"The tax laws, the tax codes are so confusing," George Ann said. "I think sometimes people just sort of throw up their arms."

That's why volunteers like George Ann are so important. She not only knows the codes, but loves what she does.

"The people that come in here to get their taxes done are just fantastic," George Ann said. "Not only grateful but they're also really interesting. A lot of them have got great stories to tell."

Prepare + Prosper provides the tax services for free to lower income individuals and families. In the 2016 tax season, they have already saved their clients nearly $700,000.

"The team that they have is awesome," Terrence Frierson said. "It's very helpful to the community, it helps everyone."

"They gave us just a lot of incredible information," Kindra Frierson said.

A lot of that information is about more than refunds.

"We help about a thousand people save some of their refund every year," Tracy Fishman, the executive director, said.

Prepare + Prosper helps with retirement funds and getting out of debt.

"If they don't have a bank account, we can open up savings accounts with people," Fishman said.

It's also about making change on a larger scale, lobbying for policy change.

"We really care deeply about building a better life for the people that we serve," Fishman said.

Prepare + Prosper has eight locations across the Twin Cities. There are income restrictions, so visit here for more information.

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