2007 annual report - AARP€¦ · AARP Foundation Annual Report 2007 Tax-Aide. More than 32,000...

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AARP Foundation Annual Report 2007

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2 0 0 7 i n R e v i e w

Page Section

3 Highlights of 2007

4 Helping People Build

Financial Security

9 Helping People Hold Onto

What They Have

For additional information, including introductory letters from AARP Foun-dation Board Chair Nelda Barnett and President Robin Talbert, plus donor acknowledgements and 2007 finan-cials, please go to www.aarp.org.

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Tax-Aide. More than 32,000 dedicated Tax-Aide volunteers helped a record 2.19 million taxpayers file tax returns free of charge.

Senior Community Service Em-ployee Program (SCSEP). We helped 21,700 individuals with near-poverty incomes gain the on-the-job training and other skills they need to sustain paid employment. We are proud our SCSEP program had the highest job placement and service rate of any national sponsor.

WorkSearch. A pilot program, Work-Search, connected thousands of people to local jobs where their skills are in demand, following an online as-sessment of their interests and skills.

Scholarships for Women. An over-whelmingly positive response greeted the Foundation’s announcement to establish the Scholarships for Women program. The scholarships will en-able deserving women to chart more secure futures by acquiring new job skills, training and education.

Benefits QuickLINK. Thousands of older Americans with limited incomes learned about and applied for more than 15 federal and state benefit pro-grams through our new online pub-lic benefits screening tool, Benefits QuickLINK.

Litigation Victories. Foundation lawyers continued to champion the rights of older Americans, winning major legal victories that included age discrimination suits.

Donor Support. We marked a major milestone by having over one mil-lion active donors who support our charitable work through direct mail. And we enjoyed a significant increase in support from donors who gave through deferred and legacy gifts.

Highlights of 2007

During 2007, the AARP Foundation marked significant

milestones and launched new programs and legal challenges

that furthered our mission to provide security, protection and

empowerment for older persons in need.

We are proud to have

been awarded the Better

Business Bureau’s (BBB)

Wise Giving Alliance

“National Charity Seal,”

which signifies that the

AARP Foundation meets

the Alliance’s rigorous

standards for charity

accountability.

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If these are just images in your mind, consider yourself lucky.

Unfortunately, for far too many Americans as they age, these situa-tions capture the harsh reality they face each day. That’s why the AARP Foundation developed innovative programs in 2007, including Work-Search and Benefits QuickLINK.

WorkSearch Program Launches

By 2010, one in every three American workers will be over age 50. Many of them need to work in order to pay for health care, housing, utilities, food and other basic needs. That’s why it is so important for 50+ workers to sharp-en their skills and remain competitive in 21st century workplaces.

To help them, the AARP Foundation in 2007 launched WorkSearch in 22 states at convenient locations, such as librar-ies and community colleges. This initiative offers an easy, online tool that allows them to assess their skills and interests, and identify potential community-level employment op-tions. By year’s end, WorkSearch had assisted more than 17,000 people.

Senior Community Employment Program Continues

The Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP) pro-vides job training, resume building, computer skills and much more to low-income people age 50+ who want and need to work. With more than 77 project sites in 22 states and Puerto Rico, SCSEP has helped over 400,000 low-income older adults, since 1969, to develop the skills and confidence they need to secure a meaningful job, increase their financial security, and contribute to their communities.

Scholarships for Women Program Announced

Women face greater risks than men of financial insecurity as they grow older, both because they often earn less than men and live longer, on average. To help women with low and modest incomes to participate in education and training opportunities that they could not otherwise afford, the AARP Foundation announced the Scholar-ships for Women Program in August. We are seeking additional funds to expand the scholarships program in future years.

Helping People Build Financial Security

Imagine how you would feel if you: Needed to find work after

age 50, fearing that your outdated skills will make it impossible

to find a new job; worried about how to pay for the cost of

retraining for today’s job market; or lost your beloved spouse to

death or divorce, then needed to find a job to support yourself

after never having worked outside the home.

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Litigation Wins Victories

The AARP Foundation Litigation team is one of the few national groups that defends and supports the legal rights of older Americans across the United States—assuring that they have a voice in our judicial system. It handles cases and files friend-of-the-court briefs to address legal issues that affect the daily lives of people 50+, includ-ing age-based discrimination, health and long-term care, pension and retirement security and consumer protection.

Key litigation victories in 2007 included:

Sprint settled an age-discrimina- °tion lawsuit, agreeing to pay $57 million to a class of 2,000 former employees.

Medicare beneficiaries in Arizona °won the right to sue the state for failure to provide home- and

community-based care without delays and gaps in coverage, thanks to a ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for 9th Circuit. AARP attorneys represented a class of beneficiaries at both the trial and appellate levels.

In a unanimous ruling in ° KSR v. Teleflex, the U.S. Supreme Court sided with consumers and AARP by limiting patent protections for combinations of existing tech-nology, such as combinations of drugs whose patents are expiring.

AARP Foundation Litigation

went to bat in state court

for a dozen people like

Evelyn Burrell, above, an

88-year-old, wheelchair-

bound resident of

Baltimore, Md. She has a

poverty-level income and

suffers from osteoarthritis

and circulatory and

heart ailments.

Local Medicaid officials

denied Evelyn’s request for

home care to assist her

with daily needs such as

bathing and dressing. Her

application for assistance,

originally denied, was

approved after AARP

attorneys took on her case.

Burrell no longer faces

the prospect of unwanted

institutionalization in a

nursing facility.

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WorkSearch Success Stories

Here are just a couple of the success stories achieved through the new WorkSearch program in 2007.

Stevie Smith

Life has thrown Stevie Smith many curves. But now, at 63, she has a new job and hope—thanks to AARP’s WorkSearch.

After a 15-year marriage ended in di-vorce, she went back to college so she could support her daughter. “When you don’t have any skills, it’s pretty scary,’’ she says.

But her college degree couldn’t prevent breast cancer, kidney cancer, diabetes and hypertension. “It’s hard to hold a 9 to 5 job when you’re sick and need treatments, so I did a lot of temporary work,’’ Smith says.

Then a friend said WorkSearch had helped her find a job. “I was in re-mission and desperate to go back to work,” she says. “My friend urged me to check it out.”

Two months later, Stevie became an administrative assistant to a non-profit organization devoted to helping women prevent AIDS. She reports proudly, “WorkSearch helped me hone my skills, and matched me to a great job.”

Alicia Cortez

Alicia Cortez looked forward to enjoy-ing retirement after 22 years working for a city government in Texas.

But then her mother got cancer and died, and medical bills for her hus-band, who has muscular dystrophy, grew.

“I was sitting around doing noth-ing,” she says. “I just had to get back to work. But looking for a job at 50 is hard, even with a lot of experience.”

Cortez turned to WorkSearch for help. From the online assessment and job listings, “I learned there were a lot of jobs I could do that I didn’t know I had the skills for. The WorkSearch staff was very helpful, very professional.”

Her search paid off: she now works as a customer service representative for the city’s convention and visitors bureau.

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These WorkSearch clients, seen here at

a technology center in Harlem, NY, went

online to assess their skills and identify

employment options.

Says Dee, “AARP Foundation has given me the opportunity

to improve my skills and get more confident and for that I

am grateful.”

Dee

“I have met the nicest and most sup-portive people at AARP Foundation. They have supported and directed me in the path I’m on right now, “ says Dee, a participant in the Founda-tion’s SCSEP program. Dee needed to take time off from her job to care for her father and when she needed to return to the workforce, she wasn’t sure where to turn. Once she found the Foundation’s SCSEP program, she felt she was on the right path. Dee now works in an on-the-job training assignment as an administrative assistant with the Mid-Manhattan Adult Education Center. While there, she can also take advantage of the computer classes they offer and brush up on her skills that will help her land a good job.

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M O R E T H A N 2 M I L L I O N P E O P L E

W I T H T H E I R TA X E S E V E RY Y E A R .

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Helping People Hold on to What They Have

Just imagine if you: Were scammed out of your life savings by a

con artist who offered an investment “guaranteed” to eliminate

your money worries forever; suffered strokes that left you

unable to handle monthly bills or understand your finances; or

fell behind in paying taxes because you could no longer read

or comprehend tax forms, but couldn’t afford to pay for tax-

preparation assistance.

The AARP Foundation offers person-alized programs that support people who struggle each day to hold on to what they’ve got. In 2007, we directly served more than 2.3 million individu-als, and provided information to 1.4 million more.

Tax-Aide Helps Record 2.19 Million Taxpayers

A record 2.19 million taxpayers re-ceived free assistance in completing their tax returns from 32,000 Tax-Aide program volunteers in 2007. Impor-tantly, our trained volunteers were able to secure $159 million in Earned Income Tax Credits for 150,000 citizens.

And by filing more than 1 million tax returns electronically, Tax-Aide volun-teers helped their clients avoid exploi-tive refund advance loans.

The Tax-Aide program also recently promoted a new IRS initiative aimed at encouraging saving by making it easier to invest refunds. Refunds can be automatically deposited in up to three different personal banking ac-counts, such as a checking, saving and

IRA account.

Since 1968, Tax-Aide has grown into the nation’s largest volunteer-run, free tax preparation and assistance pro-gram serving those age 60 and older.

Money Management Provides Trusted Support

The Money Management Program helps low-income older adults and people with disabilities who have trou-ble managing their financial affairs. These clients may be at risk of being financially exploited by scam artists or acquaintances, having their utilities shut off or facing eviction from their homes. Thousands of volunteers meet on a regular basis with clients in their homes and retirement centers to assist them in paying bills, budgeting their finances, and keeping track of critical papers and payments.

In 2007, the Money Management Pro-gram served more than 5,500 clients through 130 nonprofit and govern-ment agencies in two dozen states.

Thanks to AARP Foundation

Litigation, James Sykora,

60, a senior engineer with

Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co.,

shared in a $1.2 million

class-action settlement

after a judge agreed with

AARP’s contention that

the company pushed older

workers out of their jobs by

using a flawed performance

rating system.

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Money Management Profile

Frances Van de Nest struggled to cope with her finances after suffering three strokes. This frustrated the 84-year-old woman, who had excelled in math as a child growing up in the Midwest. “I would get so confused and upset,” Frances said. “I had lost the ability to do a lot of things I used to do.”

Fortunately, through her senior living community, Frances learned about the AARP Foundation Money Man-agement Program.

Now, every month, an AARP Money Management volunteer visits her and helps pay her bills. Together, they write checks, balance her checkbook, and keep track of her debts, important documents and benefit payments.

“I was afraid to ask for help at first,” Frances says. But now, she says: “I don’t know what I would have done if I didn’t have (Money Management).”

Benefits QuickLINK Offers New Online Help

A new online tool offered by the AARP Foundation helps low-income people more easily access the public benefits they are entitled to, but too often have troubling getting.

More than 50,000 people used the Benefits QuickLINK online tool in 2007 to find information about 15 valuable federal and state benefits, such as Medicare, Medicaid, energy assistance, state property tax relief and telephone-bill discount programs.

Reverse Mortgage Education Program—Timely Information

With the housing market in decline in 2007, consumer information provided by the AARP Reverse Mortgage Educa-tion Project helped older homeown-ers understand these loans and what alternative options may be.

Reverse mortgages are an increasingly popular way for older homeowners to tap the equity they have built up in their homes. Equity can be con-verted into cash without having to sell or make monthly loan payments. While popular, reverse mortgages can be complicated, costly and risky. In 2007, thanks to the AARP Foundation, home owners had a source for trust-worthy information.

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ElderWatch Helps Prevent Consumer Fraud

A cornerstone of the Foundation’s consumer protection efforts is Elder-Watch, which educates older consum-ers on how to protect themselves and others against fraud and identity theft.

In Colorado, AARP ElderWatch is a partnership between the state attor-ney general, the AARP Foundation, Better Business Bureaus and county sheriffs. In September, Colorado ElderWatch held its 3rd Annual “Fight Fraud—Shred Instead” event, during which consumers learned the impor-tance of deterring identity theft by shredding their sensitive documents. ElderWatch staff and volunteers assisted more than 400 people and shredded more than 12 tons of paper.

In West Virginia, the attorney general’s

office returned more than $576,000 in cash and products to consumers, thanks to efforts by ElderWatch staff and volunteers who help people sub-mit consumer complaints and track them through the review process. In addition, during a workshop in March, the AARP Foundation staff trained attorneys and social workers from around the country on how to prevent elder financial abuse and exploitation. Materials and trainers for the event were supported through a grant from the U.S. Administration on Aging.

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AARP Foundation

The AARP Foundation is AARP’s af-filiated charity. Foundation programs provide security, protection and em-powerment for older persons in need. Low-income older workers receive the job training and placement they need to re-join the workforce. Free tax preparation is provided for low- and moderate-income individuals, with special attention to those 60 and older. The Foundation’s litigation staff pro-tects the legal rights of older Ameri-cans in critical health, long-term care, consumer and employment situa-tions. Additional programs provide in-formation, education and services to ensure that people over 50 lead lives of independence, dignity and purpose. Foundation programs are funded by grants, tax-deductible contributions and AARP. For more information, visit www.aarp.org/foundation.

We offer direct community services, education programs and information that provide security, protection and empowerment as people age.

Photo Credits

p 3 Veronika Lukasova

p 5 Veronika Lukasova

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2007 annual report - AARP€¦ · AARP Foundation Annual Report 2007 Tax-Aide. More than 32,000...

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