Norfolk, VA—August 30, 2021 — Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) Hampton Roads, the local office of the nation’s leading community development investment organization, is expanding its footprint in Hampton Roads to forge resilient and inclusive communities of opportunity. Leveraging a $100 million joint effort with Sentara Healthcare and Optima Health, LISC Hampton Roads will invest in local social determinants of health, like affordable housing, small businesses, and programs that enhance quality of life.
Since January of 2020, through funds raised from our donors and supporters — including corporations, government entities, and individuals — LISC has invested over $8.2 million to improve educational, employment, and health outcomes for under-resourced communities and supporting recovery efforts for some of the hardest-hit small businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Last fall, LISC Hampton Roads partnered with the Hampton Roads Workforce Council and the Urban League of Hampton Roads to implement Bridge 757— a local model of ’ LISC’s national Financial Opportunity Center® (FOCs) program which helps chronically unemployed and underemployed adults train for, land, and advance in jobs in local growth industries by helping them overcome the roadblocks to success, build effective money habits and focus on the financial bottom line. The program targets families living on a low-to moderate-income and those who face the highest systemic obstacles to opportunity.
Bridge 757 provides personalized financial coaching including credit repair and counseling, income support, career services, budget preparation counseling, and employment services.
As part of the Virginia Beach Pandemic Relief Partnership — a collaboration with the United Way of South Hampton Roads, the Foodbank of Southeastern Virginia and the Eastern Shore, and the Hampton Roads Workforce Council funded by the City of Virginia Beach — LISC Hampton Roads provided $10,000 grants to support over 700 small businesses impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.