Alabama-based Epiphanys recently received a $350,000 acquisition loan from LISC to expand its capacity to serve federal agencies and fuel growth through new contracts. The loan was supported by Truist, Mackenzie Scott, and the Wells Fargo Open for Business Fund.

U.S. News and World Report recently named Spartanburg, South Carolina the 12th fastest growing place in the country. This growth has put more pressure on an already strained supply of affordable housing, putting homeownership further out of reach for longtime Black residents. With support from LISC Upstate South Carolina, Oak and Ave Property Group – a Black-owned housing developer and full-service brokerage – is helping more families realize their goal of homeownership.

Wells Fargo has committed a new $1 million, one-year grant to support LISC’s Financial Opportunity Center® network in under-resourced communities nationwide. In the last year alone, our partnership has helped pave a path to resilience and sustainable financial and career success for nearly 12,000 people. To celebrate this renewed support, we’re sharing our favorite stories about people touched by the Wells Fargo partnership.

An article in Black Enterprise highlights Wells Fargo’s Open for Business Fund, through which LISC received $36M to provide grants, loans and expertise to small businesses serving low-income communities and communities of color during the pandemic—including Washington D.C. tailor Julius Lofton. Those investments have leveraged a massive $2.1 billion in impact for business owners, and local economies, nationwide, according to a new study.

LISC program offices in Houston, New York and Richmond, Va. each received $7.5 million from the Wells Fargo Foundation to lead local collaboratives designed to address systemic roadblocks to homebuying for Black, Hispanic and other underserved individuals and families. Homeownership is a critical part of LISC’s efforts to upend racial health, wealth and opportunity gaps. The three LISC-led collaboratives aim to create 15,000 new homeowners of color by the end of 2025.

Climate disasters—combined with the lingering economic stress of the pandemic—present immediate challenges to the survival of small businesses and the outlook for long-term recovery and growth. With the generous support of the Wells Fargo Foundation, LISC is developing our Small Business Resiliency Network to ensure businesses can innovate, expand, and thrive.