By Mark Kudlowitz, Senior Policy Director

Since 1974, the Community Development Block Grant program has been one of the most critical federal resources for affordable housing, community development, infrastructure, and disaster recovery. LISC’s Mark Kudlowitz shares LISC’s long history of utilizing the program in partnership with our community-based partners and what’s needed from Congress to strengthen the program for the future.

By Laura Jaramillo, Executive Director, LISC Houston

Laura Jaramillo, executive director of LISC Houston, has plenty of personal experience with her hometown’s extreme weather, and the struggles Houstonians, especially those living on low incomes, face as the climate crisis cranks up those weather events. In a personal blog, Jaramillo reflects on how, in all their work, her team and their partners have incorporated a focus on helping people build resiliency—in their financial lives, in their homes, and with their communities—and why it’s imperative we act collaboratively now.

Extreme weather events can cause devastating property damage and economic loss. With a $500,000 grant from The Allstate Foundation, LISC will help six Houston nonprofit organizations better manage the impact of natural disasters on vulnerable communities—and help protect the regional economy in the process.

LISC is intensifying its work on and investments in climate resiliency and green projects, especially in disinvested communities that bear the brunt of climate change and ecological degradation. In fact, advancing environmental justice is mission-critical in LISC’s efforts to promote racial and economic equity in American cities, towns, and rural areas. Here's how we're doing it.

Climate disasters—combined with the lingering economic stress of the pandemic—present immediate challenges to the survival of small businesses and the outlook for long-term recovery and growth. With the generous support of the Wells Fargo Foundation, LISC is developing our Small Business Resiliency Network to ensure businesses can innovate, expand, and thrive.

By Matt Josephs, Senior Vice President for Policy

Matt Josephs, LISC senior vice president for policy, takes a look at the president’s State of the Union address and what it might mean for efforts to bridge gaps in health, wealth and opportunity throughout the country.