Throughout 2023, LISC Houston’s economic development work drove progress in increasing wealth, income, and job training for Houston families, convening small business development groups, initiating programs in child care and in disaster resiliency, and bringing awareness and funding for digital literacy and access. LISC National in partnership with four other national nonprofits - Enterprise, Habitat for Humanity, United Way and Rewiring America – submitted a proposal to deploy $9.5 billion by participating in the EPA’s Office of Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund competition known as the Power Forward Communities.
Family Income and Wealth Building
As always, 2023 was a busy year for our four Financial Opportunity Center (FOC) partners. Our network continues to be one of the highest performing among all LISC markets. The past year brought more opportunities to increase access to digital literacy and technology, in the form of grants to FOC partners to augment their programming. As well, we continued the Bridges to Trades program funded by Lowe’s, with two sites focusing on HVAC training. The LISC National FOC Convening resumed in person for the first time since the pandemic; three FOC sites sent representatives to this conference and all came back full of energy and ideas to serve Houstonians. Finally, we successfully wrapped up the income supports tool evaluation project and the financial planner connection; both were opportunities to leverage expertise from other organizations to improve FOC clients’ access to income and wealth building opportunities.
In 2024 our focus will be on workforce development, especially “green jobs” that hold a lot of promise for Houston. Given the Environmental Protection Agency’s plan to distribute billions of dollars nationwide for green jobs initiatives, we are poised to lead the charge and capture huge amounts of funding and resources to help workers get trained, certified, pivot, or start on a pathway that will lead to stable and wealth-building careers. This opens the door to other types of workforce development opportunities that are specifically tailored towards the climate and pollution reduction strategies that our project targets such as GHG. There will be sufficient opportunity associated with other types of activities (ie nature-based solutions/green infrastructure, waste reduction/management, etc.). We will also focus on the connection between workforce development and entrepreneurship, as that connection is becoming increasingly apparent and skill-building is required for success. Capacity building and convening coalitions will be another area where LISC can leverage our strength to assist Houston families and organizations.
For more information, contact Ellary Makuch at emakuch@lisc.org.
Business Development/Small Business
The past year brought significant growth in LISC Houston’s Business Development Organization section. We grew our presence in this sector, collaborated with the Houston-Galveston Area Council to plan for a Houston-wide Small Business Development Collaborative, and provided technical assistance and convening assistance to efforts such as the Small Business Technical Assistance program, Verizon Small Business Digital Ready, and Workforce Solutions. Other initiatives included childcare and disaster capacity building for small businesses, both of which are now permanent pieces of our portfolio. LISC, Gran Coramino and Kevin Hart teamed up again to offer $10,000 grants to help small business growth for Black and Latinx entrepreneurs who face systemic obstacles to accessing capital, with four applicants from Houston.
As we enter 2024, in collaboration with LISC National, we are piloting a grant from Kroger to provide technical assistance to small food-based businesses. LISC Houston joined the National Children’s Facilities Network - a coalition of early learning financers connecting 70+ CDFIs and technical assistance organizations across the country driving policy, advocacy and creating a space for knowledge sharing. The Elevating Women of Color in Child Care program, which was secured through a second grant from Proctor & Gamble, will be implemented through a partnership with Houston-based nonprofit Collaborative for Children. Funds will be available to women of color who own and operate childcare businesses to grow their business acumen, increase their revenue, and upgrade their facilities. The Building Innovation for Equitable Child Care program (Houston was chosen for the second cohort) looks at project "co-location” strategies of affordable housing, education, and/or workforce development with childcare by providing predevelopment funding available alongside peer learning and tailored resources.
With a renewed focus on disaster resiliency, through a grant from the Allstate Foundation six nonprofit community-based organizations in Houston will be offered capacity-building assistance and funded $50,000 to position them to help residents and businesses respond to disasters, rebuild better, and develop resiliency strategies. The organizations will establish plans to seek government funding and assistance, and be well prepared to manage the implications of receiving government funds from an organizational capacity standpoint. The capacity building work will include strengthening the organization for improved financial management, board governance, talent development, strategic planning and other core functions for resiliency, sustainability, and economic growth.
For more information, contact Tony Pathyil at tpathyil@lisc.org.