organization profile
Rural LISC
About Us
In 1995, the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), a community development support organization working in metropolitan areas across the country, launched Rural LISC, a national program created to expand LISC's reach beyond urban areas to include rural communities.
Recognizing that rural communities' needs are not focused on agriculture alone, Rural LISC provides a wide range of services, including training, technical assistance, information and financial support, to help rural community developers address the problems rural communities face. We use our Comprehensive Community Development Strategy to support our partners in expanding investment in housing and real estate, increasing family income and wealth, stimulating economic development, improving access to quality education, and growing healthy environments and lifestyles.
Rural LISC strives to accomplish this mission with a foundation of support built on technical assistance and capacity building while focusing on five pillars of rural community development: Creative Capital, Broadband & Infrastructure, Workforce Development, Housing, and Disaster Solutions.
Our Mission
Rural LISC believes in rural America. We are committed to providing support for our communities, making them good places to live, work, do business and raise children. We believe that nonprofit community organizations play an essential role in achieving this mission. Rural LISC is dedicated to building the capacity of these groups and increasing their production, by generating resources and investing in their work.
Who We Serve
Today, Rural LISC partners with more than 140 rural community-based organizations, including five financial intermediaries, helping them identify challenges and opportunities and delivering the most appropriate support to meet local needs. Together we are working to transform communities in more than 2,400 counties across 49 states and Puerto Rico.
- Providing grants, loans and equity needed to support housing, community facilities, small businesses and community development projects, particularly those related to the core mission of investing in transformative projects in Rural America.
- Innovating how communities integrate digital supports, broadband and other infrastructure needs into the community to increase equity and access.
- Connecting creative workforce solutions to organizations and communities that empower people to take ownership of their financial future and up-skill to secure quality jobs.
- Supporting communities through consulting and training on disaster solutions.
- Seeding a community vision based on deep-rooted, local approaches that embrace housing, economic development and health, while recognizing the value of arts, culture, diversity, inclusion, equity and justice.
- In addition to the financial and technical assistance and training, and important networking opportunities, provided to our Partner organizations, an important aspect of the Rural LISC program is a developing series of special initiatives.
