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!
What Affordable, 24-Hour Child Care Can Look Like: Proof of Concept from Kalamazoo
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. View Full Story [+]...
2
Heartbreak and Resilience in Buffalo: A Postcard from the Field
In its 18 months of existence, Project 10X, LISC’s high-octane initiative to help close racial wealth and opportunity gaps and invest in the wellbeing of Black people and communities, has already raised $663 million, more than 60 percent of its total 10-year goal of $1 billion. The money is being deployed in a range of innovative ways, and its impact is taking shape. View Full Story [+]...
4
Community Strategies for Systems Change: Andre Perry Kicks Off LISC-NPQ Series
— Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) (@LISC_HQ) October 12, 2022
5
Remembering a LISC Founder + “Bed-Stuy’s Statesman to the World”
In honor of Black History Month, we reflected on the extraordinary and deeply influential life of Franklin Thomas, founding leader of Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corp—the country’s first CDC—the first Black man to head the Ford Foundation, and the original architect of LISC. His dedication to helping revitalize neighborhoods by putting people and communities front and center shaped our field and the places we call home today. View Full Story [+]...
6
The Indigenous Way: Economic Development from Three Native Perspectives
In celebration of Native American Heritage Month, LISC hosted a conversation with two of our community partners who are breaking systemic barriers and helping build more equitable and resilient Native communities. We discussed the significance of empowering and elevating Native voices during Native American Heritage Month and beyond, and heard about the extraordinary community-based programs our partners are running in their communities.
7
Stopping Youth Violence Before It Starts
In an op-ed for The 74, LISC vice president of Safety & Justice Mona Mangat describes how school-based violence prevention programs, like those LISC is helping pilot with funding from the federal Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, are having a profound effect on the lives of students. These high-touch efforts that involve mentoring and other services, with the right funding and community support, can help sow the seeds of success and belonging, and disrupt the school-to-prison pipeline in too many underinvested school districts. View Full Story [+]
28 Years + $350 Million = Community Groups Taking It to the Next Level
Since the inception of the HUD Section 4 program in the early nineties, LISC has disbursed nearly $350 million in Section 4 capacity-building grants to our partner organizations on the ground. We dug into how community groups can grow and flex new muscles with these targeted injections of funding, and look at how it’s assisted three CDCs in Phoenix to take their work to the next level. View Full Story [+]...
10
Looking for Kevin Hart (Our Newest Partner) in Chicago’s Pilsen Neighborhood
