About LISC 

Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) is an intermediary and community development financial institution (CDFI), which means we are a nonprofit, mission-driven lending institution.  LISC was conceptualized during a community visit by executives from the Ford Foundation.  The question was asked “what they would do if they had $25M to spend on helping declining cities.”  LISC’s founding President stated that he would “identify competent people in 50 to 100 communities around the nation and give them as much money and support as possible.”  LISC was founded in 1979 and formally launched in 1980 with $10 Million in funding from the Ford Foundation and other investors.

LISC is a national nonprofit, with 37 local offices across the nation.  At the national level, LISC comprises operational departments and 12 programmatic teams that work alongside the local offices.  LISC’s primary work is to provide capital or loans to underestimated and underserved communities, supporting the acquisition, rehabilitation and preservation of real estate.

In 2019 as part of its southern expansion, LISC brought its comprehensive community development model to the Upstate region of South Carolina by launching a local office. In all of our markets, LISC’s role is always to be value additive, to help develop creative ways to assemble funding and bring housing projects to fruition; creating new opportunities for all residents to benefit from the Upstate region’s development; and to build on the vision of existing residents, and to partner on implementing resident-driven strategies.

LISC sees an opportunity to connect the community development ecosystem across the Upstate to spur systems change and create a service delivery system that attracts national investment and provides programmatic support to foster inclusive economic growth. LISC will build on the existing infrastructure and work to leverage and align resources to advance a community development agenda through the lens of equity and racial justice.