From the Corner Office
This has been a year of growing concern about the plight of millions of Americans who can’t make ends meet. We believe there is much that can be done to help them. And at LISC, that is our mission.
Every day, LISC works with local nonprofits and community coalitions to equip struggling neighborhoods with the capital, strategy and know-how they need to become places where people can thrive.
The key word is local. We believe the best ideas for progress and change start with the residents themselves, because no one knows a community better than the people who live there. Our job is to take those homegrown ideas and do what struggling communities often can’t—connect them with the expertise and critical resources that turn ideas into actions.
That is the philosophy behind our guiding strategy we call Building Sustainable Communities, a holistic approach to revitalization that looks at all of a community’s needs—decent and affordable homes, good schools, safe streets, quality health care, and jobs that can support a family. With this approach, LISC is building paths to prosperity in the places others have left behind.
This is no easy task, especially with key government funding ever more uncertain as Washington slashes budgets. In the face of these challenges, LISC continues to find new ways to push onward. In 2013, we harnessed the power of partnerships and worked together with leaders in the public, private and philanthropic sectors; we amassed a host of new tools.
This freshly stocked tool kit will bolster our efforts for a sustainable impact in the communities we serve—change that lasts. As a partner in the U.S. Treasury Department’s ground-breaking CDFI Bond Guarantee Program, LISC is spurring new development by investing $50 million in the construction of affordable housing and charter schools.
With our Community Advantage license from the U.S. Small Business Administration, we can stimulate economic development by providing small businesses with the loans they need—as much as $250,000 each—to grow and create jobs. We are one of a few mission-oriented groups in the nation licensed to do this kind of lending.
In 2013, we also teamed up with The Kresge Foundation and Morgan Stanley to launch a new $100 million Healthy Futures Fund that will expand access to quality health care by financing the construction of community health centers.
Additionally, the U.S. Department of Justice gave us $2.5 million to guide a growing group of cities (now 29) involved in its Byrne Criminal Justice Innovation Program. We are now combining our decades of experience in forging community-police partnerships with the insights of top criminal justice experts to bring down crime in neighborhoods around the country. In addition to launching new tools, LISC is expanding those that are tried and true. Last year we opened our 72nd Financial Opportunity Center (FOC). In 2013 alone, our FOCs helped more than 20,000 people get quality job training, apply for public benefits, build good credit and more. By providing a comprehensive array of services under one convenient roof, our FOCs are designed to help people seize opportunities that once lay beyond their reach.
LISC is able to launch innovative programs and keep years-long partnerships because we have a track record people trust. Since 1980, we have invested $13.9 billion in changing the trajectory of America’s most forgotten neighborhoods. These investments have helped build or rehabilitate 313,400 affordable homes and apartments and develop 51 million square feet of commercial and community space.
We’re a national organization with more local offices than any other nonprofit in our field—and that includes a robust network of partners in rural areas across the country. By leveraging our experience and sharing our expertise, we make it possible for local community groups to get funding from some of America’s biggest foundations and corporations, and use it to build a better future in the neighborhoods they serve.
As we look ahead, LISC is committed to finding new ways to create opportunity in the neighborhoods where we are already on the ground. That’s why in 2013, we went to the White House to brainstorm with President Obama on new federal policies that could help build back struggling neighborhoods. That’s why we brought community development officials from across the country to Washington, D.C. to discuss how to bring the latest innovations to scale. And that’s why year after year; we pound the halls on Capitol Hill to advocate for funding federal programs that finance community transformation.
By sharing stories of how the Low Income Housing Tax Credit, the New Markets Tax Credit, the Social Innovation Fund, and other key federal initiatives have transformed the landscape of America’s most beset neighborhoods, LISC is making the case for change and laying the foundation for growth.
As our funders, supporters and partners, you all play a critical role in making change possible— even in the most challenged places. Coast to coast, block by block, your support is helping to build strong communities, strong neighborhoods, and strong families. On the following pages, we hope you will be encouraged by the gains we have made and inspired to join us in the work that lies ahead.
Partners in Safety
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It Takes All of Us
Our Work is Local
Boston
Buffalo
Chicago
Greater Cincinnati & Northern Kentucky
Connecticut Statewide
Detroit
Duluth
Hartford
Houston
Indianapolis
Jacksonville
Greater Kansas City
Los Angeles
Michigan Statewide
Milwaukee
New York City
Greater Newark
Peoria
Philadelphia
Phoenix
Pittsburgh (Neighborhood Allies)
Rhode Island
Rural LISC
San Diego
San Francisco Bay Area
Toledo
Twin Cities
Virginia
Washington, DC
Washington State (Impact Capital)
Our Impact
Our Financials
Our Thanks
Our Team
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