Stories

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1.11.2024 -

Heeding MLK’s Call to Serve—365 Days a Year

On Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday every year—a national day of service—we celebrate not only his legacy but also LISC's AmeriCorps members, who are answering his call to action and dedicating themselves to serve the under-resourced communities we work with, every day of the year. Since the program's inception, LISC AmeriCorps has placed more than 3,400 full- and part-time members in over 102 communities across the country. Meet some of them here, and learn about new and creative ways they are fueling equity and impact through their service.

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1.10.2024 -

How Expanding Access to ARPA Has Expanded Access to Child Care

To support the struggling child care sector during and after the pandemic, Congress dedicated billions in child care relief funding under the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). The LISC Child Care and Early Learning team explores how minor but important changes in the administration of ARPA funding directed to child care programs can streamline deployment and make federal fund distribution more equitable.

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6.30.2023 -

How Communities (and a Participatory Budget Pilot) are Nurturing Public Health in Rhode Island

Here’s a compelling tale of system change in action: An article in the Boston Globe digs into how Rhode Island’s nascent participatory budgeting process dovetailed with the state’s Health Equity Zones (which have a long history of support from LISC) to fund programs and neighborhood assets that residents (as young as age 13) determined their communities needed.

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3.29.2023 -

Citizens & LISC Team Up to Help Workers Build Digital Skills

Basic digital skills are essential to compete for good jobs. A new $1.25 million grant from Citizens Bank Foundation will help LISC bridge the digital skills gap in under-resourced communities by embedding digital skills training into LISC Financial Opportunity Centers®, helping people build a strong career pathway for the future.

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11.16.2022 -

LISC-NPQ Series: Changing the Health System: A Community-Led Approach Rises in Rhode Island

Ana Novais, acting secretary of Rhode Island’s Executive Office of Health and Human Services, describes how neighborhood-rooted Health Equity Zones are tackling gaps in wellbeing and life expectancy that plague communities of color and people living on low incomes. Listening to people’s stories, she explains in this essay for the LISC-NPQ series Community Strategies for Systemic Change, is a key to the success of these transformative health collaboratives.

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7.15.2022 -

Co-Response: How Police and Mental Health Workers Are Answering 911 Calls with Care

Police officers and social workers have very different jobs. But in Providence, RI, some are working together, responding in pairs to scenes where the social worker’s training in mental health and trauma can help officers resolve distressing situations, get folks into treatment when needed, and keep everyone safe. The city’s innovative approach to crisis response, which LISC has long supported, can be a model for other municipalities looking to “reimagine public safety.”