Since the pandemic began, LISC’s network of Financial Opportunity Centers has shifted gears to get cash grants to hundreds of clients who need immediate resources—to put food on the table, keep a roof overhead and get to the other side of a crisis. MetLife Foundation, Citi Foundation and Wells Fargo Foundation have stepped up to make it possible.
To support some of the people hit hardest by the economic fallout of the pandemic—especially those who were already struggling to make ends meet—LISC Financial Opportunity Centers (FOCs) across the country are working to provide exactly what these families need to get by amid the fresh hardships of COVID-19: emergency money.
More than 50 FOCs, including centers in hard-hit cities like New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Houston, and Phoenix, have been distributing grants ranging from a couple hundred dollars to about $2,000 that can be used to plug critical gaps in a client’s household budget, whether the need is to keep a roof overhead, or buy food or a laptop in order to stay connected to educational and other opportunities.
In the spring, major supporters of the FOC network mobilized to make the emergency assistance available, with MetLife Foundation, a longtime FOC partner, and Wells Fargo Foundation contributing to cash grants, along with stepped-up crisis coaching. The Citi Foundation modified its existing support for Bridges to Career Opportunities to steer more than $3.5 million toward COVID-related activities, including cash grants. LISC field offices and the local organizations that operate FOCs have also raised substantial funds to offer participants urgent direct help, including cash and rental assistance. As of this writing, a total of $700,000 in cash grants have been extended to 980 FOC clients.
Embedded in trusted community-based organizations, the FOCs’ core mission is to help people access economic opportunity in holistic way, taking into account the seen and unseen elements that make up an individual’s financial life. They offer one-on-one personalized financial coaching, employment and career counseling, and income supports. Many also offer Bridges to Career Opportunities programs, which provide training that can lead to certifications and living-wage jobs in growth industries like health care and construction.
The median annual income of people coming into FOCs is $10,200. Sixty percent of clients are women – largely single heads of households caring for children. Many are people of color who have been disproportionately affected by COVID-19 and its economic repercussions. And most are seeking training and better opportunities.
In short, the FOCs are in a position to ensure the cash grants reach people who need them in order to get to the other side of the crisis. They can also help recipients strategize about how to stretch scant resources now, and chart a viable course for the future. “We can help people who are overwhelmed right now because of all the crises that are going on,” says Laura D’Alessandro, director of Financial Health for LISC’s Family Income and Wealth Building program. “It’s not just a one-time infusion of cash. They have a support system through the financial coach, the employment coach. That is the benefit of FOCs: We can deal with the crisis. And we can plan for the recovery.”
Fast, flexible money to meet the moment
Houston-area FOCs have distributed more than 200 cash grants as of late September. “The cash assistance lets the client be the expert on what’s best for them and their family right now,” says Samantha Sherman, chief program officer at Houston’s Wesley Community Center, which has given out dozens of the cash grants through its FOC. “For example, we’ve had a number of families that have had their cars repossessed, and they used the money to get their cars back. In Houston, without a car, it is incredibly hard to maintain employment. Our public transportation system is horrendous. And there’s never financial assistance for that.”
In another case, a single mother of five small children was not working—she was taking part in Wesley’s Bridges training program—when her youngest child contracted COVID-19. “She really needed some support, with the baby being sick and having to contain everybody in the household,” says Tonda Hall, director of financial stability programs at Wesley. “We were able to help her so she could get groceries and pay rent and some other bills.”
For one client in St. Paul, MN, an abusive relationship came to a head during lockdown. She was forced to flee home and job to hide from her ex in a shelter, her children in tow. A few years earlier, she’d trained for her certified nursing assistant (CNA) position through the Bridges program of an FOC run by the International Institute of Minnesota (IIMN), a refugee resettlement and social-service agency based in St. Paul. She’d done well at the job, earning promotions. And in her hour of need, she returned to IIMN where she was able to update her resume, find a new job—and, crucially, get a cash grant to cover the deposit and first month’s rent on a safe new home.
For another IIMN client, a turning point came when her young daughter’s school shut down. She found a neighbor to watch her child, but when that arrangement fell apart, she was forced to reduce her hours in hotel housekeeping, work she’d prepared for in IIMN’s Bridges program focusing on the hospitality industry. IIMN staff connected her with subsidized day care so she could return to full-time work. And emergency cash through the FOC helped her cover bills she’d been unable to pay in the meantime.
Through its FOC-specific grants, and by using funds raised locally from foundations and individuals, IIMN has also thrown a cash lifeline to people who may be ineligible for government stimulus checks or unemployment because of their immigration or employment status. “Now they’re in this situation where they’ve lost their jobs because of COVID-19—the factories shut down—or a family member got sick and they’re quarantined,” says FOC financial coach Tanya Battista. “And they can’t afford to pay their rent or get food.”
From stop-gaps to solutions
As the saying goes, the rent eats first. It’s usually a family’s most intimidating bill to pay, and when FOCs can help with rent, it’s easier for coaches to work with clients to request forbearance and pursue resources for other, smaller expenses (such as connecting clients with a food pantry). Three FOCs in Toledo are tasked with distributing this type of emergency rental assistance to landlords on behalf of clients, using federal block-grant monies made available through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.
Since May, the FOC of NeighborWorks Toledo Region has channeled over $530,000 to rent payments, helping to ensure that more than 290 households are able to stay in their homes. FOC manager Nicole Reno says the program has been able to assist people, including those without children, who might not be eligible under normal circumstances.
One 47-year-old client working two part-time jobs as a cashier had her hours cut in half when the pandemic struck. The FOC provided $2,000 to cover two months of past due rent, plus an additional two months up front—creating the breathing room the woman needed to get back on her feet, and resume regular working hours without having to face mounting debt at the same time.
This rent assistance is part of what has enabled the NeighborWorks Toledo FOC to engage nearly 300 new participants during the pandemic, raising coaches’ monthly caseload from about 50 to as many as a hundred clients. That’s a good thing, Reno says, an opportunity for coaches to guide people through a process that can take them from overwhelming crisis to remunerative work, financial stability, and even homeownership.
Reno has gone through that process herself, learning how to trim expenses and get control of her budget; she was an FOC client before becoming a coach and ultimately FOC manager. She knows well the importance of the accountability and support that coaches provide. “I love my job,” she says. “Financial coaching isn’t just financial coaching. You’re teaching self-sufficiency. It’s very empowering.”
For now, in the pandemic era, emergency cash grants are a critical infusion that, together with the coaching relationship, can help provide continuity and a means to weathering the toughest of times. The emergency funds “are allowing an individual to take care of things that are creating barriers in other areas of their life,” adds Reno. “Being able to provide income support is being able to engage a client and carry them through all the way. They’re able to take advantage of all the integrated services of the FOC model. I make sure of that.”