About Us
LISC believes that rebuilding a strong and vibrant community requires resources, ingenuity and powerful leadership to focus and develop community efforts. Michigan LISC provides countless hours of technical assistance to non-profits, creates vibrant growth opportunities by raising and channeling philanthropic and corporate financial support, and creates innovative programs and services to meet the unique needs of the local communities served.
Statewide Highlights
• In collaboration with the Poverty Reduction Initiative and over 60 community partners, LISC held two Project Connect events in Kalamazoo County, offering in excess of 50 free services to over 1,600 individuals at the two events. Free services included medical, employment, housing, hygiene, and educational services, among others.
• LISC Program Officers, with consultant assistance, were actively engaged in the creation of four Kellogg Foundation–funded Financial Opportunities Center locations in Kalamazoo, Battle Creek and Grand Rapids (two sites). Stakeholder meetings were held with other potential funders, interviews with potential sites were conducted and the selection of the four sites was made. Training, technical assistance, project funding, and oversight of the start-up process will be on-going in 2011 and it anticipated that all four sites will be open and taking program participants in the second quarter of 2011.
• LISC provided loan support to the People’s Food Co-op of Kalamazoo to support the construction of a new 6,360 square foot facility in the River's Edge target area of the Northside neighborhood and the purchase of building equipment for the facility.
• LISC Media: Sonja Dean, Program Officer, was interviewed in an NPR story about the Kalamazoo Federal Community Development Credit Union.
• Kalamazoo Neighborhood Housing Services, Inc created the Emergency Foreclosure Rescue Fund, with support from the Kalamazoo Community Foundation, the City of Kalamazoo, and LISC. The Rescue Funds were used to pay arrearages when such a payment would terminate the foreclosure. The funds were all spent in 2010 and assisted over 36 households from the Northside, Eastside, and Edison neighborhoods.
• LISC leadership facilitated the re-opening of the Northside’s only grocery store, Park Street Market, in June 2010.
• LISC has provided funding support and technical assistance to the Metro Center project. This redevelopment project will create 20 units of rental housing and 10,350 sq. feet of rehabilitated retail space in downtown Kalamazoo. The National Equity Fund has committed over $10M in New Markets Tax Credits to support the project. Construction began in December 2010.
• LISC’s participation in the Continuum of Care structure assisted in securing American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funding for Kalamazoo County for persons experiencing homelessness. These Homeless Prevention and Rapid Re-housing (HPRP) funds amounted to over $1.1M when combined with funds allocated to the City of Kalamazoo. Administered by a joint lead agency, Housing Resources Inc, these funds have assisted 409 households retain or secure housing to date.
• LISC facilitated the creation the state Michigan Microenterprise Network (Network) and a strategic plan for the newly formed group. Staff also drafted state microenterprise legislation that passed the House, but did not pass the Senate. Future work will include partnering with CEDAM to coordinate Network’s committees, and capacity building, and continuing to support effective state microenterprise policy in 2011.
• The Greater Lansing Housing Coalition (GLHC) received a $75,000 construction loan from LISC’s Green Loan Fund to develop a Neighborhood and Community Empowerment Center. The project created 11,053 square feet of renovated space (LEED Certified - Silver Level) to be the new home for GLHC, offices for other housing service agencies as well as three classrooms for Head Start programs. Total construction costs were $1.7 million.