Emily G

Review of United Way of Santa Cruz Cnty ...

I went to the Louden Nelson Community Center to ge...

I went to the Louden Nelson Community Center to get my taxes done. I was an hour early and the 4th person on the sign-in sheet. People who came after me kept going up and then it occurred to me that something wasn't right. We were then told that people over 60 were served first, yet I was 45 minutes ahead of those people. I am 28-years-old and clearly the youngest person in the room, so how on earth was I going to get my taxes done? Some of us have to get to work and I had to put in a request at work an entire month in advance to get this time off to get my taxes done for free - I make 20,000 a year, so I can't afford to pay to get them done. This was my one and only opportunity to get them done for free. Was I supposed to come in with grey hair? This rule was not posted anywhere on the website. If it had been, I wouldn't have wasted my time. THIS IS DISCRIMINATION. It is ageist. People who are retired have all day to wait, I don't. Last year it was on a first come-first serve basis, which is right and fair. What kind of organization is this if age trumps being on time? I am baffled and utterly disgusted. What's the point of a sign-in sheet if you're not even going to use it? And then the guys has the audacity to ask everyone to state their age on the paper? Fix your policies, otherwise people, including myself, will not use your services.