LIFT Awarded Six Figure Investment by W.K. Kellogg Foundation
Impact investment advances innovative, well-being focused approach to expanding economic stability of low income families.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – LIFT announced today its receipt of a $395,000 impact investment by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation (WKKF) in support of their shared goals of expanding a social services systems approach focused on multi-dimensional well-being and reframing the national poverty discussion.
“It is time that we rethink our relationship with poverty in this country. LIFT is pursuing a different approach that works to lift families out of poverty for good,” said Kirsten Lodal, CEO of LIFT. “We focus on meeting families where they are and addressing their needs on three dimensions—personal, social, and financial. We’ve found a natural alignment of our values and those of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, which has made a longstanding commitment to supporting pathways out of poverty for families.”
Focused on a model that supports the whole person on dimensions that take into account the well-being of individuals, LIFT is revolutionizing the way it works with people striving to get ahead—ensuring that families everywhere have the opportunity to build the personal, social and financial foundations they need to change their lives and lift themselves out of poverty for good. LIFT has helped 100,000 across the country access the critical tools they need to get on and stay on solid ground.
The investment from the WKKF will be used by LIFT to enhance its program model, build its evaluation capacity, and develop a national influence strategy. Together, LIFT and the WKKF will support the mobility of vulnerable families by strengthening and spreading a model which utilizes the power of relationships and community connectivity to create opportunity and build economic security.
Paula Sammons, Program Officer in the WKKF’s Family Economic Security division, said, ”We are very supportive of LIFT’s family-centered, whole-person, strengths-based model that utilizes trusting relationships to move more families out of poverty. This work aligns with our family economic security and civic engagement work that both honors the voice, dignity, and choice of families and the strengths and assets they bring, while also working to stabilize families thru building financial capability, skills, and assets to navigate a very complex and fragmented system and moving them towards greater economic stability during very challenging times. This work does not detract or negate the reality and responsibility of institutions to address the conditions and historical, systemic, racial, and structural barriers that exist, but it does respect and honor the inherent capacity of families to also find their own solutions working thru culturally sensitive and trusting relationships and networks. It is our hope that investing in this model will result in greater effectiveness and reach nationally to impact the stability and prosperity of the low income families we care about.”
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About LIFT
LIFT works to lift people out of poverty for good. Centered around a people-powered approach, LIFT’s work is driven by a network of Members, Advocates and Advisors who work together to help people find jobs, a safe home or a good education for themselves and their kids.
At resource centers in neighborhoods across the country, trained volunteer advocates work with our Members to identify and access critical resources, talk to service providers and develop important life skills. This helps them build the strong personal, social and financial foundations they need to get ahead.
By setting their own goals and working hard to achieve them, LIFT Members are equipped to get a job, a safe home and a quality education for themselves and their kids. They also build a support network, confidence in what they bring to the table and the skills to manage tough times in the future.
LIFT operates resource centers in six cities across the nation where members of the community can come get help. Nearly 100,000 Members in six major cities have already committed to do the hard work needed to achieve their goals–and it is working. LIFT is putting an average of $1,300 back into the pockets of struggling families so that they can make ends meet. Learn more at www.liftcommunities.org
About the W.K. Kellogg Foundation
The W.K. Kellogg Foundation (WKKF), founded in 1930 as an independent, private foundation by breakfast cereal pioneer, Will Keith Kellogg, is among the largest philanthropic foundations in the United States. Guided by the belief that all children should have an equal opportunity to thrive, WKKF works with communities to create conditions for vulnerable children so they can realize their full potential in school, work and life.
The Kellogg Foundation is based in Battle Creek, Mich., and works throughout the United States and internationally, as well as with sovereign tribes. Special emphasis is paid to priority places where there are high concentrations of poverty and where children face significant barriers to success. WKKF priority places in the U.S. are in Michigan, Mississippi, New Mexico and New Orleans; and internationally, are in Mexico and Haiti. For more information, visit www.wkkf.org.