Rural LISC Mission

With residents and partners, Rural LISC supports resilient and inclusive rural communities as great places to live, learn, work, and innovate. Rural LISC strives to identify priorities and opportunities and deliver the most appropriate support to meet local needs. We achieve this through a comprehensive, integrated approach to programmatic areas focused around Creative Capital, Broadband + Digital Inclusion, Workforce + Financial Prosperity, Housing, and Disaster Solutions.

What is Rural LISC?

In 1995, the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), a community development support organization working in metropolitan areas across the country, launched Rural LISC, a national program created to expand LISC's reach beyond urban areas to include rural communities. Today, Rural LISC partners with more than 150 rural community-based organizations to help identify challenges and opportunities in delivering supportive services to meet local needs. Together we are working to transform communities in all 50 states, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Guam – covering more than 2,400 counties.

Recognizing that rural communities' needs are not focused on agriculture alone, Rural LISC provides a wide range of services, including training, technical assistance, information and financial support, to help rural community developers address the problems rural communities face.  We use our Comprehensive Community Development Strategy to support our partners in expanding investment in housing and real estate, increasing family income and wealth, stimulating economic development, improving access to quality education, and growing healthy environments and lifestyles.