This week, Lowe’s became the largest contributor to LISC’s Covid-19 small business relief efforts with $30 million in new funding for entrepreneurs of color and rural businesses as they navigate the coronavirus recession. The grant builds on Lowe’s previous $25 million commitment to LISC’s relief fund, with a particular focus on minority business owners, and will help owners sustain operations, protect jobs and prepare for recovery.

LISC has named a top national economic development leader to grow its Rural LISC investment efforts and help fuel the LISC Rural Promise. Caitlin Cain is a Fulbright Scholar and former CEO of the World Trade Center of New Orleans. Her experience and skills "are needed now more than ever,” said LISC CEO Maurice A. Jones, "as our rural communities look for new ways to attract jobs, improve health and support sustained growth in the midst of Covid-19 and economic recession.”

Thanks to a grant from Truist Financial, LISC will intensify its work to support small businesses reeling from the financial fallout of Covid-19, and direct more resources to equipping communities with the infrastructure they need, now more than ever, to stay connected and economically viable.

Leading names in sports and entertainment joined community leaders and families in Loiza, Puerto Rico, to celebrate the first baseball fields restored through Play Ball Again, a LISC program that aims to revive 25 Little League facilities for 17,500 boys and girls across the island. Funded through strong collaborations with Maestro Cares Foundation, Good Bunny Foundation, UNICEF USA, Chicago Cubs Charities and Kohler Company, the program is focused on urban and rural communities that were hit hard by Hurricanes Maria and Irma.