An Overview of Building Sustainable Communities in 2009
Date Published: 06/07/2010
Author: LISC
Building Sustainable Communities is no longer just a vision or hopeful plan. We are putting this plan into action. And it is working.
Excerpt
Statistical milestones can be benchmarks of achievement. They speak to size and scope, longevity and experience. They represent the many prospects that have been realized, and chart the progress that has been made. They raise expectations for the future. And so it is with LISC. Over the past 30 years we have invested $9.7 billion in capital to support 271,000 affordable homes, 40 million square feet of retail and community space, 225 playing fields, 157 child care facilities and 132 schools, among other things.
Genuine, lasting community revitalization is gradual, sometimes halting. It defies an easy calculus of dollars in and dollars out. It requires both patience and ambition, and it couples a pin-point, block-by-block focus with a broader vision of what can be. That’s why we believe LISC’s Building Sustainable Communities strategy is important. Over the last three years, it has proven to be a promising agent of change, one that is flexible, innovative, and responsive to local conditions. It reaches into every corner of a community’s life with a comprehensive approach that can help change the trajectory of disadvantaged neighborhoods. It gives energy to places weary from decades of disinvestment. It promotes opportunity and growth.
The key is that all these things and more are taking place simultaneously in targeted communities. They are part of an overarching local plan rooted in the collaboration of residents, business leaders, policy- makers, institutional stakeholders and local non- profits — brought together with technical assistance, training and funding by LISC. The results are tangible not just because of the numbers of houses, schools, parks, businesses and jobs that Building Sustainable Communities helps to generate, but because of the lasting improvements in quality of life that it underpins.
Pursuing those interconnected goals required us to pay close attention to our own organizational health as well. Thanks to the commitment of our funders, partners and staff, 2009 was a strong financial year for LISC. We exceeded our fundraising goals, despite the difficult environment. And we dealt quickly with challenges to the performance of our loan portfolio, while moving aggressively to protect our invested assets.
And now, with 30 years of experience on which to draw, we move forward. Ours is no longer just a vision or hopeful plan. Building Sustainable Communities offers disadvantaged neighborhoods a way forward for developing stability and promoting growth. It helps transform streets marked by chronic poverty and stagnation into good places to live, work, do business and raise children. We are putting this plan into action. And it is working.
Type: Topical report