HEZ Work a Model for Upending Health Inequality
Depending on whether you are born in a prosperous or a poor American neighborhood, your life expectancy can vary by as much as 25 years. In a blog post for Build Healthy Places, Julia Ryan, LISC’s director of health and safety programs explains how Rhode Island’s Health Equity Zones (HEZ) are working to close the longevity gap. As lead agency for two of those zones, LISC is helping to tackle the deep-rooted problems underlying that gap with a multi-strategy action plan.
LISC Financial Opportunity Center Success Story Featured on NPR
A recent NPR “Hidden Brain” podcast featured Brandi Drew, a client at a Financial Opportunity Center® in Detroit. In this podcast, Drew describes how financial coaching helped her escape the “scarcity trap.” View the story here. A five year, federal grant from the Social Innovation Fund (SIF) that was matched by local private and corporate grants, made it possible for Rhode Island LISC to invest over $2.3 million into four Financial Opportunity Centers® located at Amos House, Genesis Center, Providence Housing Authority and Community Care Alliance. The Social Innovation Fund has not been included in the new federal spending proposal to fund the government through September 30.
Race to the Top Early Learning Challenge Report Released
In 2015 and 2016, by providing small grants and technical support, the LISC Rhode Island Child Care and Early Learning Facilities Fund (RICCELFF) enabled 83 early learning centers across Rhode Island to dramatically improve the learning environments in their facilities. The grants, which totaled $2.3 million, were made possible by the Race to the Top Early Learning Challenge, a U.S. Department of Education program designed to support high-quality early learning programs as well as increase the number of low-income and disadvantaged children who are enrolled in them. Read the report here.
“2016 By the Numbers” Video
LISC recently released a video highlighting the resources that it invested in Rhode Island in 2016. LISC provided over 2,000 hours of technical assistance to over 150 groups, awarded over $3.5 million in grants and invested over $21 million in real state statewide. LISC’s strategies include increasing family income & wealth, stimulating economic development, improving access to quality education and supporting healthy environments and lifestyles. Watch the video to learn more about their impact!