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.”

LISC’s Local Advisory Committees (LACs) serve as guides and champions for the organization’s many local offices and rural program. Women leaders from the finance, philanthropy, government and community development worlds bring a special—and especially important—set of skills and insights to this critical, behind-the-scenes part of our work to strengthen communities.

By Dr. Irvin Cohen, LISC Jacksonville Executive Director

LISC Jacksonville’s executive director, Dr. Irvin Cohen, shares his home community’s grief and anguish in the aftermath of the racist mass shooting of Black residents there on August 26. As Cohen writes, we must “honor those who lost their lives by redoubling our efforts to actively foster a community rooted in equality, tolerance and unity.”

A deeply reported article in the Miami Herald highlights LISC Jacksonville’s crucial role in supporting Black families with heirs’ property problems, helping them sort out titling issues, avoid the threat of foreclosure and find home maintenance resources. As Dr. Irvin Cohen, executive director of LISC Jax, describes it, for many Black families, solving heirs property issues is a key means to “prop up family wealth creation…and avert a homelessness situation.”

In collaboration with the Walmart Foundation, LISC announced funding to help eight community-based nonprofits increase access to healthy, affordable food in under-resourced communities. Located primarily across the Southeast region, grantees will undertake efforts ranging from farmer-led urban agriculture to mobile food markets to the establishment of a community food policy council.