///////// IN 2022, LISC CONNECTICUT CONTINUED TO TRANSFORM our work beyond our traditional focus on affordable housing and community development, lending, and capacity building for community development corporations (CDCs), which remains the core of our work. LISC’s Project 10X focuses on closing racial health, wealth, and opportunity gaps, which were laid bare by the COVID 19 pandemic and the murder of George Floyd. Over the past three years, LISC has applied a racial equity lens to our internal operations and external programs, with changes underway that have diversified our staff and Local Advisory Committee, while developing initiatives that contribute to dismantling systemic racism.

These initiatives include LISC taking over the Housing & Community Development Leadership Institute. The Institute, funded by the Connecticut Department of Housing and Connecticut Housing Finance Authority, trained 17 participants, almost all women of color, for leadership positions in the field. The Institute helps meet the needs of CDCs, housing authorities, and others for diverse leaders with lived experience and informs the challenges of disinvested neighborhoods with inadequate housing stock.

Meanwhile, LISC expanded our Financial Opportunity Center network, which seeks to build family income and wealth, with local community organizations, many with BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) leaders and serving primarily in communities of color. The network, described below, grew from six to seven sites, and served more than 1,200 clients with one-on-one financial coaching, employment services, and access to benefits. More than 260 clients obtained jobs, with an average wage of $17.49. LISC opened our first Bridges to Career Opportunities site at Open Doors in Norwalk, where the FOC focuses on helping clients obtain career-oriented jobs with higher wages and benefits.

We know that to create real change, we need to empower residents to decide how to build on their community’s assets and shape what happens there. LISC Connecticut’s community engagement work, described below, starts with building trust with residents involved in Neighborhood Revitalization Zones, churches, and community groups, among others. LISC is here for the long haul to transform neighborhoods that have suffered from decades of disinvestment. We are confident that committed residents and our many partners can achieve great things by working together.

We’ve seen progress in action, with a series of meetings of LISC’s Hartford Neighborhood Development Support Collaborative throughout 2022. LISC convened community partners to discuss evolving CDC plans for the Asylum Hill, Frog Hollow, and Northeast neighborhoods. Just as important as the plans themselves was the opportunity for residents to connect in person after COVID shut down face-to-face meetings for almost two years. These plans were finalized in 2023, with continued convenings among community partners and with potential investors from philanthropy, financial and anchor institutions, and government agencies.

Despite the challenges, we are excited for the future: LISC is growing, with talented and diverse new staff joining us in 2023 to operate new initiatives, including a capacity-building cohort for CDCs with BIPOC leaders funded by JPMorgan Chase, and a $15 million ARPA-funded childcare facilities grant program in conjunction with the Office of Early Childhood. While lending rates have risen, we have loan funds from Trinity Health Of New England and the Community Investment Fund 2030, in addition to CHFA and our Transit-Oriented Development Fund, to offer below-market rates. The State of Connecticut is committing unprecedented levels of support for affordable housing and community development.

LISC will work to leverage this funding to ensure that the funds are spent equitably, with BIPOC developers and building BIPOC wealth, while revitalizing communities in ways that benefit current residents and creating opportunities for affordable housing in suburban and rural communities, as well as cities.

We are committed, excited for the challenge, and ready to harness the tremendous energy of our traditional CDC partners, emerging organizations, resident leaders, and our generous funders who make our work possible. Sincerely, Jim Horan, LISC Connecticut Senior Executive Director Mario Florez, LISC Connecticut Local Advisory Committee Chair