2012 Annual Report

Finding the American spirit

Think for a moment about the image of the enduring American spirit: communities where people are hard-working and independent, but neighbors have each others’ backs; where setbacks are met by resilience and dreams are possible. Then think about neighborhoods across America where life is a chronic struggle to get by, where jobs are scarce, schools are substandard and the streets are dangerous. It might seem as if that pioneer American spirit has somehow passed those places by.

At LISC, we know that’s not the case. Because for more than 30 years we have worked in those very neighborhoods, and every day we see folks joining forces to build a better life.

Theirs may be a steeper climb, but they want what we all want: a chance to earn a decent paycheck, to shop at a well-stocked grocery store, to sit in a café with friends on a Sunday afternoon, to watch their children excel in schools that are safe and sound.

Bell Building (Detroit, Michigan) With almost $3 million in loans and equity financing, LISC supported the rehabilitation of this abandoned, historic building into 155 affordable apartments for the homeless with supportive services.

It Takes Affordable Housing. This past year, we heard the hopes of folks in a section of Detroit, where the iconic Bell Building that printed phone books in its manufacturing heyday was a 12-story monument to obsolescence and decay. Then LISC and its partner, the National Services Organization, secured the financing to give that neglected landmark new life and the neighborhood something it needed—155 fully-furnished, one-bedroom apartments that offer Detroit’s chronically displaced not only a home to be proud of, but addiction treatment, nutrition classes, a computer room, even a gym.

The Elberon (Cincinnati, Ohio) Greater Cincinnati LISC provided $280,000 in grants and loans to rebuild this historic landmark, now home to 36 seniors and once again, a meeting place for neighbors.

We helped do the same thing in Cincinnati, where the beloved, historic Elberon Building, abandoned and blighted, stood as a promising gateway for the Price Hill neighborhood’s revitalization. With help from LISC and its partners, the Elberon opened in April 2012 as 36 beautiful, affordable senior apartments, and a symbol of the neighborhood’s resurrection.

Hope Manor (Chicago, Illinois) Hope Manor provides 80 homeless veterans with affordable housing and intensive social services thanks to $8.6 million in equity and loan financing from LISC and NEF.

We listened some more in Chicago, where one in three homeless people is estimated to be a military veteran. LISC and its partners lined up millions in capital and in May 2012 Hope Manor opened its doors, providing affordable housing and intensive social services to 80 homeless veterans, not to mention an economic boost to the East Garfield Park neighborhood. And its eco-friendly design means lower energy costs so resources can be used to give those who served the critical services they so deserve—like computer training, legal assistance, job readiness and placement services, and health and wellness counseling.

Project RENEW (Pawtucket, Rhode Island) With over $100,000 in support from RI LISC and LISC Community Safety Initiative, Project RENEW provides free social and health services to commercial sex workers to empower them to get off the street.

It Takes Safe Streets. For years Barton Street in Pawtucket R.I., was best known for prostitution; young people walking to school saw it every day. Law enforcement was a revolving door between jail and the streets. But with the help of LISC and its partners, Barton Street is today evidence of what can happen when neighborhoods and police join forces not to arrest women, but to empower them. Direct street outreach is giving these women access to mental health treatment, jobs, HIV testing, food and other basic needs. Arrests are down 90 percent. And Project RENEW—Revitalizing and Engaging Neighborhoods by Empowering Women—stands as a statewide model, one of the few programs in the nation to focus on providing help to commercial sex workers.

Arsenal Tech High School Field (Indianapolis, Indiana) With support from the NFL, LISC invested $200,000 to build a new synthetic turf field for use year-round by the school and neighborhood residents.

And in Indianapolis, we heard that kids needed a safe place to play. So LISC invested $200,000 and helped line up an additional $14.3 million in New Market Tax Credits for a premiere synthetic football field at Arsenal Tech High School and a new full-service neighborhood recreation center. Built and baptized by the 2012 Super Bowl teams—the New York Giants practiced on it before the big game—the field was then gifted to the Indianapolis Public School District and Arsenal Tech H.S. in August 2012. Now more than 2,600 kids a year play football, soccer and track on a field that not only helps keep them healthy and safe, but memorializes the first Super Bowl championship ever played in their home state.

Edward W. Brooke Charter Schools (Boston, Massachusetts) A LISC loan for $3.5 million helped the Edward W. Brooke Charter Schools acquire, renovate and refinance two schools that provide free K-8 education for under-served students in the Boston area.

It Takes Good Schools. Neighborhoods can’t succeed if their children aren’t given opportunities to learn. We know that all parents, not just the affluent ones, want a good education for their kids. And it’s no secret that great teachers and high expectations drive student achievement. Few have had greater success helping underserved students get to and through college than the Edward W. Brooke Charter Schools in the Boston area. With a $3.5 loan from LISC secured in November 2012, two Brooke schools in low-income neighborhoods will continue to offer excellent teaching and free enrollment for 475 students grades K-8.

Garfield Elementary School (Oakland, California) Thanks to a $135,000 investment by LISC, Lotus Bloom doubled its enrollment of students in pre-K education at Garfield Elementary to improve their preparation for Kindergarten.

But LISC also knows that a child’s academic career starts well before the first day of Kindergarten. So in Oakland, Calif., where one third of families live in poverty, LISC and its partners helped established Pre-K programs at Garfield Elementary School to better prepare children for Kindergarten. A LISC grant expanded the early childhood education program—Lotus Bloom—at Garfield, doubling the number of children and parents enrolled. Academic achievement is improving and Garfield is becoming a full-service community school.

Milwaukee Commercial Corridors (Milwaukee, Wisconsin) In five neighborhoods, LISC invested almost $1.5 million to rebuild retail districts and support small businesses, such as Mr. Sebass, a Peruvian restaurant opened by 19 year old Sebastian Ludena.

It Takes a Thriving Business Community. The business district is often a neighborhood’s front porch; it’s the first thing people see, it shapes a community’s image. Vibrant shops attract residents and visitors, encourage private investment and promote safety. LISC Milwaukee is revitalizing commercial corridors in five neighborhoods with real estate loans, money to help spruce up facades, and technical assistance to make commerce hum. LISC’s Commercial Corridor Program is all part of our big picture efforts to wipe out blight, bring down crime and jump-start a second-life for businesses and residents.

Franklin County CDC (Greenfield, Massachusetts) With $80,000 in Rural LISC grant support, Frankin County CDC created a new business for its community—Food Processing Center—which freezes 100,000 pounds of locally-grown produce for local schools annually.

We know that good business isn’t just about a healthy profit; it’s about giving a community what it needs. And every school kid needs a healthy lunch. So in Greenfield, Mass., about 90 miles outside of Boston, the Franklin County CDC contracts with farmers every season to set a fair price for the school district on locally grown vegetables. With the help of LISC grant money, the CDC hired staff and set up new business ventures—including commercial freezers that process more than 100,000 pounds of fresh produce for local schools. The farmers have been able to shift their cash crop from tobacco to veggies, a new business was born and the kids in Franklin County are eating cauliflower, broccoli, peppers and squash. Everybody wins.

All told in 2012, LISC invested more than $900 million to support a range of projects and programs as diverse as the hundreds of neighborhoods we touch. Even on the heels of the worst economy since the Great Depression, we saw progress. Streets got safer. Schools got stronger. Businesses grew. More people found a home.

That hopeful, resilient American spirit isn’t absent when neighborhoods struggle; it’s just a little harder to hear. At LISC, we continue to expand our reach to give residents of low-income neighborhoods a voice, and help them build a community they can be proud of.

We're listening.

What We Accomplished in 2012

Watch it again:

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• Affordable Homes
• Retail & Community Space
• Child Care
• Schools
• Playing Fields

What We Invested

• In 2012
• Since 1980

As of December 31, 2012

Condensed Statement of Financial Position

Assets

Liabilities and Net Assets

Condensed Statement of Activities and Changes in Net Assets

Revenue

Expenses

Total Net Assets, 1980–2012 (In Millions)

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The condensed financial statements of Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) include the assets, liabilities, revenues of LISC Parent Only as well as its equity interest in the net assets of its controlled affiliates National Equity Fund, Inc. (NEF), New Markets Support Corporation (NMSC), The Retail Initiatives, Inc. (TRI) and Local Initiatives Managed Assets Corporation (LIMAC), LISC Louisiana Loan Fund (LLLF), LLC, Columbia Pointe, LLC, Neighborhood Properties, LLC, and LISC Cook County, LLC. These financials do not consolidate the affiliates nor the entities for which either NEF, NMSC or TRI serves as general partner of managing member of (as prescribed by EITF 04-05, Determining Whether a General Partner or the General Partners as a Group Controls a Limited Partnership or Similar Entity When the Limited Partners Have Certain Rights). Copies of the audit reports and the complete financial statements will be available in the fall of 2010 upon request to Tobin Levy, CFO at LISC, 501 Seventh Avenue, 7th floor, New York, NY 10018.

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