1. WE HAVE GOOD NEWS TO SHARE ABOUT METRO-ST. LOUIS COMMUNITY TAX COALITION!
“I was raised to give back to my community.”
Desmond Leong has provided free tax preparation to the community
for more than 25 years — first as an Internal Revenue Service
employee and one of the original founders of the Missouri Chapter of
the Association for the Improvement of Minorities-IRS;” and more
recently as director of Metro-St. Louis Community Tax Coalition, a
nonprofit organization that prepares and electronically files income tax
returns for clients who are elderly, disabled and for targeted clients whose income is $50,000 or less.
Desmond spent years working in management for the IRS before he decided to give free tax preparations
independently at his churches. “My father always encouraged me to give back to my community.”
After the surge of electronic filing in the early 2000’s, Desmond believed people were being taken advantage of
with rapid refunds, so he decided to expand upon his commitment to affordable tax preparation and his
administrative management skills and opened Metro-St. Louis Community Tax Coalition.
Today, with the help of two other unpaid administrative staff and 250 volunteers, MCTC prepares tax returns in
about 30 locations throughout St. Louis City, St. Louis County and parts of Southern Illinois. Churches, senior
citizen facilities, universities, public libraries and recreational centers benefit from his services.
Desmond believes his office in St. Patrick Center’s BEGIN New Venture Center is the perfect location. “I’m near
the federal building in downtown St. Louis and being located in BEGIN gives my business added exposure.”
Desmond, also a certified public accountant, often gives free tax prep and business advice to other BEGIN
companies and hopes to expand those services to St. Patrick Center employees in the near future. “Giving back
is a two-way street.”
To view other success stories and videos, visit www.stpatrickcenter.org.
The BEGIN New Venture Center is small business incubator and St. Patrick Center
program. St. Patrick Center is Missouri’s largest provider of housing, employment and
health opportunities for people who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless.
800 N. Tucker Blvd., St. Louis, MO 63101 ♣ 314-802-0700 ♣ www.stpatrickcenter.org