A sign of a thriving community is that residents feel confident that their lives will improve, their incomes rise, and their job prospects widen while they are living there. However, achieving economic stability is a process that builds upon itself, and it requires long-term planning and commitment from individuals and families. Economic stability is a combination of adequate income and good financial management behavior. LISC includes the following elements in its definition of economic stability for the low-to-moderate income residents we serve:
- Sufficient family income for daily living expenses, to allow for asset accumulation, and to address minor emergencies.
- Employment skills that lead to higher paying jobs or a smooth switch to a new job if employment is terminated.
- Smart debt, with market-rate interest, that leads to appreciating assets (such as a house) or that can be paid off in a reasonable period of time.
- A plan for post-secondary educational opportunities for their children.
- Realistic opportunity for retirement at age 65, with income beyond Social Security.
LISC's
Family Income and Wealth Building program is designed to connect low-to-moderate income families to the financial and labor market mainstream. The core of LISC's model is offering employment and career services, financial education and coaching, and low-cost financial products that encourage investment and savings.
- Financial Opportunity Centers are career and personal financial service centers that focus on the financial bottom line for low-to-moderate income individuals. FOCs provide families with services across three areas: employment placement and career improvement; financial education and coaching; and public benefits access. These core services are integrated together and provided to clients in a bundled fashion in order to reinforce one another and to provide a multi-faceted approach to income and wealth building.
- In order for families to become truly economically self-sufficient they need to own and grow assets. LISC's Family Income and Wealth Building program encompasses two important areas of asset building: 1) helping communities improve access to appropriate financial services and products; and, 2) developing community-based asset building programs.
