Well over one-third of families in the US do not have enough resources to pay for basic necessities. And half or more of Black and Hispanic families do not have adequate resources. When it comes to recovering from a disaster or trying to build wealth, credit and having the availability of resources to recover quickly play a critical role for families’ financial resilience and stability.
Through our role as an intermediary and as part of our capacity building work, LISC Houston is privileged to work with a cohort of local organizations and community leaders in creating effective and proven strategies that help families establish and/or build credit, and systems to enhance disaster resilience. And we don’t gatekeep the ingredients to our collaborative success because we believe in advancing the field.
To this end, in June, LISC was honored to stand alongside its partners to share some of the effective strategies in helping families build credit, and communities and organizations in becoming stronger in their disaster resilience through two national conferences: the Credit Builders Alliance Symposium in Washington, D.C. and the Points of Light Conference in Houston. TX.
The Credit Builders Alliance annual Symposium brought together practitioners, educators, nonprofit leaders, bankers, and providers from across the country to Washington to learn about and discuss banking and credit building for underserved populations.
Ellary Makuch, Program Officer Economic Development, moderated a panel discussion for practitioners about digital literacy and credit building. On the panel were two staff members from Wesley Community Center (the Director of Adult Literacy and the Manager of Digital Literacy). The lively panel discussion and ensuing Q&A left the room energized with ideas, armed with strategies they could take back to their communities to increase digital literacy and financial literacy. As part of the Q&A, Ellary also turned the mic around and asked the attendees to share their best practices, and the audience delivered, discussing their successes and troubleshooting with each other, contributing to making the session even more interactive and beneficial.
In addition to the myriad breakout sessions, the symposium featured a keynote speaker (Jeff Fuhrer, Economist and Author of "The Myth That Made Us") and a keynote “fireside chat” with CBA’s CEO and Kelly Young, the CEO of the Coalition for the Homeless Houston. Another highlight was an evening networking reception at the conference hotel where attendees were able to mingle, enjoy refreshments, and pursue interesting conversations that had started during the day, or consult with a speaker they had heard.
The Points of Light Conference brought together social impact leaders from across the US to Houston, TX to empower nonprofit/NGO, government, business and civic leaders in making a bold impact in their communities, providing resources and inspiration for every step of the journey. Madeline Fraser Cook, Vice President, Community Building and Resilient Solutions at LISC, led a discussion with
Lisa Churchill, Founder of Climate Advisory LLC, and Monique Tinglin, Program Team Impact Lead Consultant at The Allstate Foundation, on the work accomplished to-date as part of the LISC Houston launch of the Disaster Resiliency Program. Resources shared during this conversation include Building Sustainable Communities: A Guide to Disaster and the Civic Circle®, a toolkit for disaster preparedness and recovery and Climate Change Preparedness Toolkit for business development organizations.
Many thanks to our local partners for their participation, hard work in the field, and willingness to share the learnings along the way.
Wesley Community Center, Volunteers of America, TX, Rebuilding Houston Together, Houston Toolbank, Emancipation Economic Development Council, Texas Congressional Disaster Readiness.