Mulberry Community Service Center, Inc.

Mulberry Community Service Center, Inc., a tax-exempt nonprofit organization headquartered in Mulberry, Florida, operates as a federal grant recipient delivering volunteer income tax assistance (VITA) and community social services to low-to-moderate-income populations in Polk County. The organization holds five prime federal grant awards and participates as a sub-recipient on four additional federal grants, with the Internal Revenue Service as its sole federal customer across a nine-award footprint spanning 2022 through early 2026.

Mulberry's prime capability centers on administering VITA grants from the IRS — matching grant programs designed to extend free tax filing services to underserved populations including persons with disabilities, English-language learners, Native Americans, rural residents, military members and their families, and elderly taxpayers. The organization's grants require it to file at least 90 percent of prepared returns for households at or below earned income tax credit thresholds, achieve 100 percent of annual return-production targets, and file all eligible returns electronically. Representative awards include five consecutive annual VITA grants from the IRS, each running October through September, awarded in fiscal years 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, and 2026. Two of the five awards note de-obligation of unspent grant funds as a modification reason, indicating spending variance across periods.

Beyond VITA, Mulberry serves as a sub-recipient on Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG) funding, performing wrap-around services for low-to-moderate-income households in financial hardship — including bill-pay assistance, food and clothing provision, financial literacy programming, and employment coaching. A January 2026 ESG sub-award and an October 2023 CDBG sub-award document this secondary service line; an additional ESG RUSH amendment dating May 2023 modified an existing contract to segregate new funds from the original award.

Activity remains steady but modest. The organization received one award in 2024, one in 2025, and one in early 2026 following a three-award spike in 2023. Combined dollars obligated across the nine-award portfolio total $989 thousand. Only one award completes within the next twenty-four months (the September 2025 VITA grant completion), creating minimal recompete exposure in that window. The organization's 56 percent prime-to-44 percent sub split reflects balanced participation across VITA prime grants and CDBG/ESG sub-recipient roles, with no federal contract (procurement) activity in the source record.