MESSAGE FROM LEADERSHIP
2021 was a true test of community resilience as the Covid-19 pandemic continued to impact individual and community health, resulting in the loss of many beloved community members, despite the introduction of vaccines. In addition to ongoing health risks, Covid disrupted work, education and child care schedules, drove up prices for labor and materials – heavily impacting affordable housing construction efforts, and severely constrained our ability to gather in person.
Despite these limitations, our community of neighbors worked hard to meet the moment, serve community and forge new pathways for a more just, equitable and inclusive recovery. LISC WNY was honored to recognize those efforts at our 2021 Community Development Awards which celebrated the dedication, creativity and strength of our nonprofit partners.
Growing our local LISC team, we worked hard throughout the year to deploy grant resources to small businesses and nonprofit affordable housing, workforce and community development partners. We worked together to foster a more diverse network of affordable housing and real estate developers, support neighborhood commercial corridors, connect residents with work, and find bold new pathways to address the region’s 76,000-unit affordable housing gap.
Our equitable recovery will take time, intention, creativity and dedication. Our team remains deeply committed to sharing this journey with you.
Thank you for your support.
Sincerely,
Tyra Johnson Hux LISC WNY Operations Director
LIVABILITY & QUALITY OF LIFE
SPOTLIGHT
WITHIN WNY Neighborhood Planning
Developed a new brand for ‘Livability’ planning. Now known as WITHIN WNY!
2 local consultants, 1 steering team, 8 focus groups, 3 community events, 1 virtual scenario planning event, 30+ organizational interviews resulted in:
- East Side Neighborhoods Investment plan created.
- Developed the HUB site open-source tool in tandem with WITHIN East Side planning process (shout out to Prospect Hill Consulting!)
- We are gearing up to drive investment and support an Implementation Council, made up of East Side organizational partners in 2022.
Organizational Trainings for 9 East Side nonprofit organizations on the topics of Succession Planning and Executive Performance Evaluation
- Citizen’s Alliance
- University District Community Development Association
- Broadway-Fillmore Neighborhood Housing Services
- Central Terminal Restoration Corp.
- Preservation Buffalo Niagara
- Michigan Street African American Heritage Council
- Matt Urban Center
- Heart of the City Neighborhoods
- Fruitbelt Community Land Trust
Transportation
- $30,000: Regional Planning Exchange Project in collaboration with GBNRTC & PUSH Buffalo to increase capacity and participation of BIPOC leaders and organizations in equitable Transit Oriented Development (eTOD)
- $48,500: eTOD Outreach & Education in partnership with GObike Buffalo
- $200,000: Awarded NYSERDA Clean Neighborhoods Challenge, Phase II. Next Step – Compete for the Grand Prize of $10 million in clean energy improvements! Read the story here [+]
Childcare
- $28,420: Funded the Childcare Innovation Pilot with the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus and Western New York Women’s Foundation, sponsored by LISC national through Pivotal Ventures (Melinda Gates). Next phase - opportunity for $40,000 to test feasibility of an innovative childcare facility.
Health & Safety
- Made a commitment to administer $250,000 to Tapestry Charter School for the development of a new field at the Community Track and Multi-Sport Athletic Complex, sponsored by the LISC NFL Foundation Grassroots Program and Buffalo Bills. Read the story here [+]
- $40,000 Rubinger Fellowship funded to Front Seat Life, an organization dedicated to eliminating barriers to mental health and wellness, especially within Buffalo’s African American community. Read founder, Kelly Wofford's story [+]
Section 4 Dollars [?]
- GObike Buffalo - $50,000 of Section 4 dollars to support GOBike’s Equity Goals and build relationships with East Side partners to support program expansion.
AmeriCorps [?]
- Wakanda/WNY Service Collaborative – summer - Coalition Coordinator
- Wakanda Alliance/Feed Buffalo – full-time - Coalition Coordinator
- GObike Buffalo – full-time - Community Outreach Assistant. AmeriCorps Member, Luke Medina went on to work full-time with GObike Buffalo. Read his story here [+]
- Population Health Collaborative/Project Rainfall – full-time - Project Rainfall Management Assistant
HOUSING
Attorney General’s Mission Based Affordable Housing
- Partnership between NYS Attorney General’s office, Enterprise, and LISC WNY. LISC partnered with Heart of the City to provide a virtual Affordable Housing 101 Training.
- Objective: to empower and train mission-based institutions how to plan and implement an affordable housing development project.
- Over 30 attendees in trainings, representing 12 organizations
- 10 entities received technical assistance and coaching
- 8 entities are receiving pre-development assistance. These 8 entities are expected to produce 382 units of affordable housing as well as community benefits and services.
- What to look forward to in 2022: $320,000 of pre-development funding for 8 faith-based entities between Buffalo and Rochester.
Affordable Homes Built
National Equity Fund, a LISC Subsidiary, awarded the syndication (sale) of Low-Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC) for PUSH Buffalo’s 49-unit West Side scatter site housing redevelopment.
- Total Project Size: $21,013,051
- Learn about the project [+]
NYS Housing Stabilization Fund – WNY Construction Grants
- $90,000 to Habitat for Humanity Buffalo – 2 residential units completed
- $45,000 to Flower City Habitat for Humanity in Rochester – 1 residential unit completed
- Provided a total of $265,438 in operating support dollars to support housing initiatives the City of Lockport, City of Olean, Town of West Seneca, Town of Amherst, and City of Auburn.
Attorney General’s Mission Based Affordable Housing Training
- 382 units expected
WNY Moving Forward Together COVID Response
- $141,000 in planning and implementation funds: Working with several housing partners, this “Moving Forward Together” funding spearheads an innovative housing project that aims to dramatically scale up new, climate smart, modular housing production to help address the region’s 76,000-unit gap in household affordability and create more equitable homeownership opportunities.
- The design process, to be completed in 2022, centers the needs and lived experience of woman-head of households, older adults, and people with disabilities.
LISC WNY Goldman Sachs Affordable Housing grant
- Provided $150,000 to Heart of the City Neighborhoods & Habitat for Humanity Buffalo to develop 2 housing rehabs and 5 permanent affordable housing units in Masten Park.
Trainings Offered
Section 4 [?]
- $57,156 in Section 4 dollars provided to Heart of the City Neighborhoods. Funds supported two staff members to provide pre-development education and assistance to aid Mission Based affordable housing partners in Buffalo and Rochester.
- $50,000 of Section 4 funds supported the Partnership for the Public Good to complete a Regional Housing Market Study [+] released in partnership with LISC WNY.
AmeriCorps [?]
- Polish Community Center d/b/a/ Matt Urban Center – summer - Housing Services Coordinator
- Urban League of Rochester Economic Development Corp – summer - Housing Specialist
INCOME & WEALTH BUILDING
Community Based Real Estate Development Training
Growing wealth through Developer Education for BIPOC, WBE and community-based developers and contractors, in partnership with East Side Avenues [+]
- Number of mentors: 18 mentors matched up one on one with students, based on student’s needs and phases of development.
- Number of Instructors: 17 of the best-known development professionals in the area, provided their expertise and instruction on the development process. An additional 15 volunteers hosted UrbanPlan [+] modeling exercise with students
- Number of developers/graduates - 18 students learned the development process. How to analyze a site, do financial modeling and all the partners and team members you will need to get your project over the finish line. An opportunity for the students to meet a network of professionals in the development world.
- More about LISC’s Role in CBREDT and Emerging Developer resources here [+]
Financial Opportunity Centers
What‘s an ‘FOC you ask?’ Financial Opportunity Centers® (FOCs) are career and financial coaching service centers that help families living on a low- to moderate-income build effective money habits and focus on the financial bottom line. FOCs provide employment and career counseling, one-on-one financial coaching and education and low-cost financial products that help build credit, savings and assets. They also connect clients with income supports such as food stamps, utilities assistance and affordable health insurance. The cornerstone of the FOC model is providing these services in an integrated way—rather than as stand-alone services—and with a long-term commitment to helping clients reach their goals. Integrated or “bundled” services lead to concrete gains in net income and job retention. Research shows that FOC clients who take advantage of combined services are 50 percent more likely to land a well-paying job than people receiving employment services alone. And long-term job retention—holding a job for a year or more—almost doubles when financial coaching reinforces the work of employment counseling.
Section 4 [?]
- Northland Workforce Training Center continued administering the $125,000 Section 4 Grant (fall 2020 – fall 2022) through the entirety of 2021. Funds supported 9 financial coaches accreditation + provided 12 people accredited career service provider certification. These positions provide career counseling, financial coaching and income support to the Northland Workforce Training Center student cohorts.
- Identified a second FOC partner to bring on in 2022 – Buffalo Federation of Neighborhood Centers - $50,000 on training to become a Community Housing Development Organization (CHODO) and to train staff on becoming accredited financial coaches within our FOC network – 2 CHODO; 3 FOC financial coaches. This will allow BFNC to expand the HOPE center with a new location in Niagara Falls. They will be joining the LISC FOC network in 2022.
NEIGHBORHOOD BUSINESS & ECOSYSTEM BUILDING
Economic Inclusion Agenda
$50,000 of Section 4 Funds - collaboration with Buffalo Urban League for East Side inclusive economic development agenda
- Key to the Agenda for Buffalo’s East Side is building and maintaining partnerships with place-based, frontline organizations that can work as conveners to connect the BIPOC community with economic development opportunities and resources. Funds paid for salary and fringe for BUL staff & consultant Jacques Planning & Consulting Services
- 6 Steering Team meetings, 8 focus groups, 3 community events, 2 scenario planning sessions and intensive data collection informed the East Side Economic Inclusion plan and implementation agenda. This can be found embedded in the WITHIN East Side Neighborhood Plan.
Commercial Corridor Management Training
- Through a partnership with East Side Avenues, LISC WNY was contracted to provide a 6-part Commercial District Management Training [+] Though the training was targeted towards East Side Avenues organizations, as an overarching benefit to the community, it was open to all corridor managers and volunteers in Erie and Niagara Counties who wanted to attend.
- 16 attendees representing 9 organizations attended the training
Business Lending
LISC Lending supported the growth and expansion of Starlight Family Daycare, owned by Codelia Coble. Read the story here [+]
Re-launched KIVA lending efforts, in partnership with The Exchange at Beverly Gray
- Interested in a KIVA loan, contact The Exchange [+]
- Learn more about KIVA here [+]
Small Business Grants
- In partnership with General Motors, LISC WNY offered the ‘Scale Up WNY Business Grant,’ administering $150,000 of grant funds to Black-owned businesses in the Construction, Digitization & Web Services, and Diversity, Equity & Inclusion consultant fields.
- Since March 2020, at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, LISC provided $414,500 in small business grants. See the full list of grantees here [+]
Small Business Ecosystem Support
$40k of grant funding to Canisius Women’s Business Center to support 2 initiatives:
- The Building Allyship Program - This program brings together entrepreneurs who are women of color and influential decision-makers in local business. Both groups are facilitated by professional Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) experts. The two groups are brought together for co-facilitated creative problem-solving, shared understanding and creation of actionable allyship with networking and partnership.
- Internal Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Recommendations - A local DEI expert, Dr. Ida Gibson, was contracted to conduct a DEI audit and provide recommendations. Dr. Gibson provided two trainings to staff, advisory board and facilitator/mentors on the topics of understanding DEI and using inclusive language.
Section 4 [?]
WEDI (Westminster Economic Development Initiative)
- $45,000 provided to create a new organizational strategic plan that supports the Niagara Street expansion.
AmeriCorps [?]
- PUSH Buffalo – summer - Youth Service Specialist
- University District Community Development Association - Neighborhood Development Assistant – full-time
HOW THE WORK GETS DONE
LISC WNY Staff
Tyra Johnson Hux LISC WNY Operations Director
Brittany Perez Livability Support
Kate Rebhan Nonprofit Support & Coaching
Saira Siddiqui Communications & Neighborhood Business Support
Maggie Hamilton Winship Real Estate Support
Local Advisory Council
Bradley Dossinger (Chair) Administrative Vice President, M&T Bank
Laura Dolan Senior Vice President, Market Manager, Enterprise Business & Community Engagement, Bank of America
Dennis Elsenbeck Head of Energy & Sustainability, Phillips Lytle LLP
Karla Gadley Senior Vice President, Community Development Officer, Five Star Bank
Beth Gosch Executive Director, Western New York Foundation
Donald Ingalls Vice President, Government Affairs, BlueCross BlueShield of WNY
Cara Matteliano Vice President, Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo
Blythe Merrill Vice President, The John R. Oishei Foundation
Ed Negron Area Sales Manager, US Bank
Pastor George Nicholas Board Member; Pastor, Buffalo Center for Health Equity; Lincoln Memorial United Methodist Church
Welcome our newest 2022 LAC members:
Amy K. Obenhofer SVP, Director of Community Development Market Mgmt, Community Development, Citizens Bank
Michael Murak Commercial Real Estate, Evans Bank
LISC WNY 2021 Annual Report
www.lisc.org/wny
GLOSSARY
LISC AmeriCorps AmeriCorps places passionate, dedicated people with community development groups. LISC AmeriCorps members 1) serve local organizations, 2) work with residents and neighbors to champion revitalization of their own neighborhoods, and 3) build bandwidth of our community development organizations. Section 4 Section 4 dollars are distributed to Community Development Corporations (CDCs) as organizational grants. LISC is one of three national administrators of this fund. Section 4 dollars are dispersed in accordance with LISC WNY’s strategic plan, covering areas of : Housing, Economic Inclusion, Livability, and Wealth Building.