Eligible taxpayers can get their 2022 income tax return prepared and electronically filed free by IRS-certified volunteer tax preparers under the Volunteer Tax Assistance program (VITA).

VITA has provided this service nationwide for over 50 years. It is a federal program to help low- to moderate- income individuals and their families get all allowable federal and state deductions and credits.

This program is for basic tax returns for less than $66,000 annual income that does not include rental property or digital currency. Self-employed taxpayers are eligible if there are not paid employees, inventory or depreciation, and the business does not operate at a net loss. Farm and married filing separate returns are not accepted.

Tax preparation sessions take place at Humboldt Senior Resource Center’s Eureka Heritage Café, 1910 California St., by appointment only.

Appointments will be scheduled Tuesdays and Thursdays between 9:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. until April 13. To schedule an appointment, call 707-443-9747, x1240.

Bring a photo ID and Social Security card or other government document with the name and SS number or ITIN for everyone on the tax return. Learn more about VITA at benefits.gov/benefit/1543.

AARP offers a similar program through the Fortuna Senior Center. Call 707-726-9203 for more information. The McKinleyville Senior Center will not be providing a tax service this year.

Eligible tax filers can have their basic 2022 income tax return prepared and electronically filed free by IRS-certified volunteer tax preparers under the Volunteer Tax Assistance program (VITA).

VITA has provided this service nationwide for more than 50 years. It is a federal program to help low- to moderate-income individuals age 65+ and their families get all allowable federal and state deductions and credits.

This program is for basic tax returns for less than $66,000 annual income that does not include rental property or digital currency. Self-employed taxpayers are eligible if there are no paid employees, inventory or depreciation, and the business does not operate at a net loss. Farm and those who are married and filing separate returns are not accepted.

Tax preparation sessions take place at Humboldt Senior Resource Center’s Eureka Heritage Café, 1910 California St., by appointment only.

Appointments for 2023 will be scheduled Tuesdays and Thursdays between 9:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. beginning Feb. 7 until April 13. To make an appointment, call 707-443-9747, x1240 starting January 3, 2023.

Bring a photo ID and Social Security card or other government document with the name and Social Security number or ITIN for everyone on the tax return. Learn more about VITA at benefits.gov/benefit/1543.

AARP offers a similar program through the Fortuna Senior Center. Call 707-726-9203 for more information. The McKinleyville Senior Center will not be providing a tax service this year.

HSRC will open a pop-up meal site for those age 60 or older in McKinleyville in January, in partnership with the McKinleyville Senior Center.

The weekly meal distribution, beginning Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2023, will include five frozen meals prepared and flash frozen in the Heritage Café central kitchen at HSRC in Eureka.

Pick-up will be either drive-through or walk-up on Tuesdays from 11:30 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. in the parking lot of the McKinleyville Senior Center at 1620 Pickett Road.

Reservations are required. Please call 707-496-7036, preferably at least one week in advance.

Monthly menus can be found on the HSRC website here. A contribution of $3.50 per meal is suggested, but not required. No diner age 60 or older will be denied meals if unable to contribute.

Weekly meal pick-ups at HSRC’s Heritage Café at the Arcata Community Center will be discontinued as of January 2023 in order to provide this new pop-up service in McKinleyville. The last day for Arcata meal pick-up will be Tuesday, Dec. 27, 2022, but in-person dining at the Arcata Heritage Café continues Wednesdays through Fridays from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.

For more information, contact HSRC Nutrition & Activities at 707-443-9747 or email info@humsenior.org.

Lessons in Dementia is an educational series from HSRC’s Adult Day Health & Alzheimer’s Services.  See here for info  regarding upcoming presentations.

A recording is now available of the December 5, 2022 presentation of  “Parkinson’s Plus Syndromes” by Andrew Levine, PhD, ABPP  from  North Coast Neuropsychiatry. This session addressed the shared symptoms of Parkinson’s Plus syndromes and Parkinson’s disease and their different underlying causes, as well as treatments.

• The slides from this session can be found here.
• The video of this session can be found here.

Questions?  Call 707-443-9747 ext. 2217 or email adhs@humsenior.org.

The Humboldt Senior Resource Center (HSRC) has been awarded a $404,152, three-year Innovations in Nutrition Program and Services grant from the Administration for Community Living, an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.  The purpose of the grant is to reduce hunger, encourage social engagement, and promote health and wellbeing among older adults in Humboldt County.  “Our goal is for more seniors to come to lunch—particularly rural older adults  who are at risk of not getting enough nutritious food,” said Tasha Romo, HSRC’s Director of Nutrition & Activities.

The first funded innovation is to modernize the agency’s  three senior dining centers in Arcata, Eureka and Fortuna to make them more attractive to more older adults, with the Baby Boomer generation a focus.  The three centers,  now called “Heritage Cafés,” will offer café-style dining with table service, replacing the more old-fashioned cafeteria-style format.  HSRC plans to expand the menu to offer diners a wider choice of entrées and a salad bar.

“In the first year of this grant, we will begin implementing changes in Eureka, the second year in Arcata and McKinleyville, and the third in the Eel River Valley,” said Romo.  “And in each year, we plan to extend farther into the outlying, rural communities.”

The second funded innovation will be “Heritage Café Mobile,” a catering-style truck that will deliver meals once weekly to senior and community centers where lunch is not presently served.

“Hunger and social isolation are both serious threats to senior health,” said Melissa Hooven, HSRC Chief Executive Officer.  “This grant provides us the opportunity to build partnerships with other local agencies.  Together we can help more seniors be well-nourished and engaged.  We can help older adults be healthy and independent enough to age at home with dignity.”

In addition to the Heritage Cafés, the Humboldt Senior Resource Center’s Nutrition Program includes Meals on Wheels Redwood Coast, which delivers meals to homebound seniors, and weekly take-away meal distribution, which provides five prepared meals at a time.

For more information, contact Tasha Romo, Director of Nutrition & Activities, at 707-443-4797 ext. 1228.