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 Among the Levitt Center’s programs aimed at connecting Hamilton students with the Utica community are Project SHINE and VITA. SHINE (Students Helping in the Naturalization of Elders) is a service learning program in which Hamilton students tutor refugees and immigrants learning English. VITA (Volunteer Income Tax Assistance) offers free tax help to families who cannot prepare their own tax returns. Hamilton students become certified volunteer tax preparers through the IRS.

Eleven students in Policy, Poverty and Practice (Econ 235) are acquiring valuable life skills this semester – skills that they otherwise would not be able to learn in a classroom. Students enrolled in the class are required to participate in the VITA (Volunteer Income Tax Assistance) program, a joint project of the Economics Department and the Arthur Levitt Public Affairs Center. The program offers free tax help to low- and moderate-income (generally $49,000 and below) families who cannot prepare their own tax returns.