This holiday season, support LISC small business borrowers and find the perfect gift for everyone on your list! All of the businesses featured here have received LISC capital to acquire their location, hire new staff, or increase inventory to help their business grow.

On Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday every year—a national day of service—we celebrate not only his legacy but also LISC's AmeriCorps members, who are answering his call to action and dedicating themselves to serve the under-resourced communities we work with, every day of the year. Since the program's inception, LISC AmeriCorps has placed more than 3,400 full- and part-time members in over 102 communities across the country. Meet some of them here, and learn about new and creative ways they are fueling equity and impact through their service.

When the owner of RJ’s printing, the only Black-owned printer in Southwest Michigan, was ready to step down, he didn’t want to pass on the business to just anyone. With the support of a $150,000 LISC acquisition loan, a local graphic designer who got his start on RJ’s Printing’s founding team in 1995 will make sure the printer will serve the community for years to come.

Not really a top ten, because we heard and told so many great stories this year—of challenges overcome and impact made—that it would be impossible to pick that few. But here is a selection of our favorites from 2022 (okay, ten) in words, pictures and social media characters. They help narrate some of what happened over the past 12 months, and we think they're too good to miss!

For millions of workers across the country, affordable child care options are out of reach. To address this inequity in their community, YWCA Kalamazoo and Hollander Development Corporation, with support from LISC Kalamazoo, came together to build The Dreamery, an around-the-clock child care center with programs serving second- and third-shift workers and 24-hour drop-in care. This is the story of how it came to be.

In celebration of World Chocolate Day, we're sharing the story of LISC borrower Cherri Emery, owner of Cherri’s Chocol’art, whose small business has cooked up a deliciously welcoming space for the community in Kalamazoo, MI.