Overview

Our Mission:

Together with residents, partners, and local leaders, LISC Rhode Island forges resilient and inclusive communities of opportunity. We work to create great places to live, work, visit, do business, and raise families.

Strategies We Pursue:

• Strengthen existing alliances while building new collaborations to increase our impact on the progress of people and places.
• Develop leadership and the capacity of partners to advance our work together.
• Equip talent in underinvested communities with the skills and credentials to compete successfully for quality income and wealth opportunities.
• Invest in businesses, housing and other community infrastructure to catalyze economic, health, safety and educational mobility for individuals and communities.
• Drive policy and system changes that foster broadly shared prosperity and well-being.

Our unique structure not only enables local organizations to access national resources and expertise, but also allows our funding partners to leverage their investment through local agencies to produce an impact that is truly remarkable. LISC currently operates nationwide in 35 cities and in rural locations in 44 states.

LISC is the largest community development support organization in the country.  In 1979, when the Ford Foundation first conceived of LISC, it envisioned an “intermediary”—a smart and savvy non-profit that would connect hard-to-tap public and private resources with hard-to-reach communities struggling to revive.

In 1991, LISC opened an office in Rhode Island. Since that time we have invested $396 million in neighborhoods across our state, helping to create more than 8,330 affordable homes and support the development of more than 2 million square feet of commercial, child care, educational and community space. We also support workforce development, early learning and child care facilities, and health equity through our work managing the Pawtucket|Central Falls Health Equity Zone.