Our Impact
On Families and Individuals
Over its 11 year history, LIFT has helped more than 30,000 individuals and families on a path out of poverty. This means jobs, homes, food, and clothing for individuals struggling to provide for themselves and their families. LIFT works with over 6,000 clients annually to meet their immediate and long-term needs while simultaneously providing the support and compassion to clients whose hope and confidence were undermined by seemingly insurmountable obstacles. By coaching LIFT clients to develop an internal toolkit, clients are able to bounce back from challenges and setbacks. Our goal is that 10,000 LIFT volunteers will have advanced 100,000 clients on their path toward economic security and personal success by 2015.
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Bert Brockway
"I was so impressed that the students actually asked needy individuals ‘What do you need?"
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Maria Selamoglu
"[At LIFT] they work with you like a partner. They did so much more for me here than anywhere else I have visited. They really care about their clients."
On Volunteers
LIFT offers a unique model of civic engagement for its student volunteers. Unlike other volunteer opportunities on college campuses, LIFT provides a sustained commitment to community issues and poverty alleviation where volunteers work four to 10 hours per week in a year-long commitment, an average of 73 hours per year – nearly two times that of their state, regional and national counterparts.
Through service with LIFT, students are directly exposed to the systemic causes, issues, and solutions to poverty. The intention is that the LIFT volunteer experience will have a profound effect on individual students by instilling key values. LIFT alumni go on to pursue careers across all sectors, championing the practices and policies that aim to eliminate poverty. From pursuing degrees in social work and public policy to working as case managers and social workers, many LIFT alumni become public servants in the social service or government sectors. Other alumni engaged in work in the private sector continue to volunteer and contribute philanthropically to causes aimed at eradicating domestic poverty.
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Carlos Torres
"My goals, my vision for myself, the legacy I wanted to leave, all these shifted involuntarily over my two years with LIFT."
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Linda Jun
"After LIFT, I was convinced I wanted to do something that also contributed to helping the poor achieve sustainability and independence. "
On Communities
Because LIFT volunteers are not case managers, they are uniquely positioned within the community to link clients to crucial services and benefits they need to stabilize themselves and their families. With appropriate training, LIFT volunteers can handle all "one-off" needs like benefits screening/enrollment and résumé writing within the office. They then refer clients to trained professionals and experts (e.g. social workers, legal professionals, tax experts) at the necessary point of intervention. In this way, clients have a sustained advocate and "home base" as they meet their various needs, and community professionals are doing less intake and needs assessment which otherwise overwhelms their case loads. Furthermore, by leveraging a committed volunteer base, LIFT is able to provide all of its services at a fraction of the cost of other providers—a savings for the community at large.
View LIFT’s 2009 Impact Report to see how LIFT centers impacted families, volunteers, and communities this year.
