Getting to the Root of It

I was recently challenged with the question of how LISC Jacksonville in particular gets to the “root cause” of what constitutes our work. After reflecting a bit, I came away with the belief that we, meaning LISC, would have to have a solution to detangling poverty. While I do believe that there are many smart people within our organization, I also fully understand the issue is far too complex for one organization to have all the solutions. Furthermore, I am a practitioner of systems thinking, which suggest that problems such as poverty are part of a wider social issue.

To that end, LISC nationally has decided to address those “root cause” issues through an aggressive plan called Project 10X. Locally, that translates into three distinct programmatic offerings that reflect our local capacity to alter those issues that lead to generational poverty: Project Boots, Family Wealth Creation, and Financial Opportunity Centers® (FOCs).

First and foremost, Project Boots is our way of creating generational wealth through the mechanism of home ownership. Research is clear that homeownership is perhaps the most common form of generational wealth creation, and we are targeting our LISC-supported communities as the place to start. However, what makes our work so unique is that we are targeting essential workers as program participants.

Secondly, in terms of our work to address other underlying issues that impact generational wealth is our work in the area of Family Wealth Creation. Our goal here is to help transfer generational wealth by assisting with financial and estate planning, probate, clearing titles, and consolidating property ownership. 

Lastly, in our efforts to address “root cause,” we continue to deepen our work within our FOCs, which are career and financial coaching service centers that help low- and moderate-income people build effective money habits and focus on the financial bottom line. Currently, we have three centers in Jacksonville with a goal of adding one a year for the next three years. 

I will be the first to admit that in isolation our work alone will have very little success. The “root causes” are entirely too intertwined with large-scale systemic issues to change. However, when we partner with other agencies and engage in a systematic approach to change, we can get at the source of what holds back our most under-resourced communities.

We will have more to share about these initiatives in the coming months that we look forward to sharing with you.