This year, the Coramino Fund, a nationwide partnership between LISC, Gran Coramino Tequila, and Kevin Hart to help entrepreneurs serving Black and Latino communities, awarded $10,000 grants to 50 businesses. For Pride Month, Coramino Fund grant recipients Thrive Cakery and Officiant NYC shared how cookie sales and personalized ceremonies support the LGBTQ+ community year-round.

A $405,000 acquisition loan from LISC supported by Starbucks made it possible for entrepreneur Ruben Perez to purchase a mixed-use property in Chicago. LISC financing is helping Perez build equity in commercial real estate and serve the low- and medium-income area of the city through his business Guerrero Produce.

In the aftermath of George Floyd’s murder, one South Minneapolis community convulsed in pain and suffered massive destruction. On Juneteenth this year, it celebrated the fruition of a project that speaks volumes about community agency and ownership, and how support from intermediaries, including LISC, can be profoundly transformative in building back stronger, and more equitably, than ever before.

By Mona Mangat, LISC Vice President, Safety & Justice

For the second year in a row, the Department of Justice, in partnership with LISC, brought together hundreds of community violence intervention practitioners from across the country to share their experiences and insights on the front lines of gun violence and trauma. Their stories and wisdom are reshaping narratives about victimhood and perpetrators, and helping implement solutions to create safer, healthier communities.

Jamie Schumacher, LISC Twin Cities Program Officer

In a blog from the Twin Cities, LISC’s Jamie Schumacher delves into the ways Asian American and Pacific Islander communities and their partners are leveraging arts and culture to build—and rebuild—authentic human connection, community and commerce.

Natavia lives in the 800 square-foot family house her grandmother bought on the east side of Jacksonville, Florida almost 80 years ago. Natavia is the third generation to call the property home. “I value the house for the memories,” she said. “I grew up spending the summers with my grandma, hearing the stories of her walking to work way on the other side of town, just to have a home.”