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Social Innovation Fund awards $8.4MM to LISC Financial Opportunity Centers to help stabilize economic outlook for low-income families & communities

8 Aug 2012

NEW YORK (August 8, 2012)—The federal government’s Social Innovation Fund (SIF) has awarded $8.4 million to the nonprofit Local Initiatives Support Corp. (LISC) to extend the reach of its network of Financial Opportunity Centers that help low-income residents across the country find jobs and stabilize their finances.

The Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS), which manages the SIF, recently announced the 2012 awards, including support for four new programs and continuation of grants to seven prior recipients that had demonstrated consistent and compelling results. LISC is received two prior awards, totaling $8.4 million.

“This renewal for the next two years will help us reach more struggling families and counter debilitating economic distress that hurts whole communities,” noted Kevin Jordan, LISC vice president of national programs.

In recent years, LISC has opened 64 Financial Opportunity Centers in 19 cities. In 2011 alone, the centers helped13,000 people tackle their financial challenges; more than 4,000 people found jobs.

“Financial Opportunity Centers work because they take a comprehensive approach to helping families rebuild their economic foundation,” Jordan explained. “They take on everything from job training and placement, to family debt reduction and budgeting, to tax and benefits support, to long-term financial planning and coaching. Those services are widely available for more affluent individuals. But they are rarely available, in one place, for low-income people.”

Jordan said Financial Opportunity Centers illustrate the impact of strong public-private partnerships—noting that national funding for the network comes not just from the SIF but also from major corporations and foundations. They include Citi Foundation, Bank of America, Walmart, U.S. Bank, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Annie E. Casey Foundation and the Open Society Foundation. Those dollars are further matched by local funders in communities all across the country.

For more on the new Social Innovation Fund grants, visit http://www.nationalservice.gov/about/programs/innovation.asp.

About LISC

LISC combines corporate, government and philanthropic resources to help nonprofit community development corporations revitalize distressed neighborhoods. Since 1980, LISC has raised $12 billion to build or rehab 289,000 affordable homes and develop 46 million square feet of retail, community and educational space nationwide. LISC support has leveraged nearly $40 billion in total development activity. For more information, visit www.lisc.org.

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Article Type: Press Release