Program Areas

Health

LISC’s approach to improving health in underserved places is holistic: we promote affordable, green housing, safety, good education, job opportunities and financial stability—all of which factor into the health and wellbeing of a community. But we also target our work to shore up three fundamental resources every neighborhood needs to keep residents well: easy access to pri­mary health care, affordable, nutritious food and safe places to exercise.

St. Paul, MN residents tend crops in a community garden at Rolling Hills Apartments, which LISC helped finance.
St. Paul, MN residents tend crops in a community garden at Rolling Hills Apartments, which LISC helped finance.

Through the Healthy Futures Fund, LISC is developing innovative ways to bring community health centers to underserved areas as well as affordable housing that incorporates health services for low-income residents. 

Our healthy food initiatives help neighborhoods develop and expand sources of wholesome, affordable foods—like grocery stores, farmer’s markets, client choice food pantries and urban vegetable gardens. The programs we support also educate community members about nutrition and empower residents to advocate for healthy eating in their own families and neighborhoods.

Our collaborations with the NFL Foundation “Grassroots” program and ESPN’s Home Court program, part of our sports and recreation initiatives, help schools and community organizations build or rehab football fields and renovate basketball courts.

We’re committed to helping people get what they need to become—and stay—healthy.

Through our local offices, we’ve helped reclaim or create hundreds of parks, greenways and trails where residents from all walks of life can get out and move their bodies. And more and more, the housing and community spaces we invest in feature exercise rooms, swimming pools, dance studios and other places for physical activity.

We’re committed to helping people get what they need to become—and stay—healthy.