History

Our evolving portfolio

Housing—New LEED house construction in North Minneapolis’ Hawthorne EcoVillage

Economic Development—Employees of the Franklin Street Bakery in South Minneapolis

Education—John A. Johnson Achievement + School on St. Paul’s East Side

For more than 20 years, the Twin Cities Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC)—one branch office of the largest community development organization in the nation—has been an anchor institution of local community development. Our goal has always been to help optimize development investments so they have the most positive impact on human lives.

Initially, we helped create quality affordable housing in disinvested St. Paul neighborhoods; our affordable housing strategy grew from an understanding that housing is the first building block for family stability.

Our work then evolved to include economic and commercial development, adding quality jobs, goods, and services to our agenda, as well as leadership development. In 1998 we expanded into Minneapolis, and increased our emphasis on supportive housing, mixed-use development, green development, and resident engagement.

During the early 2000’s we again broadened our partnerships. We used our finance and capacity-building expertise to foster new opportunities in education, healthcare, childcare, and social and environmental amenities in targeted neighborhoods. We also began to help suburban communities with their development planning through our Corridor Development Initiative.

This gradual evolution has laid the groundwork for the more comprehensive, integrated model of community development that LISC is now identified with, both locally and nationally. We call this work building sustainable communities.