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:

1. Sufficient family income for daily living expenses, to allow for asset accumulation, and to address minor emergencies.
2. Employment skills that lead to higher paying jobs or a smooth switch to a new job if employment is terminated.
3. 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.
4. A plan for post-secondary educational opportunities for their children.
5. 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.

• Centers for Working Families

  Centers for Working Families are career and personal financial service centers that focus on the financial bottom line for low-to-moderate income individuals. CWFs 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.

• Asset 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.