LIFT INC

LIFT-Los Angeles’s mission is to empower families to break the cycle of poverty. Today, 45 million individuals live in poverty in the United States, including six million families with young children. The poverty rate in Los Angeles is 21.5%, significantly higher than the U.S. average of 13.4%. Families arrive at LIFT’s offices near AEG’s STAPLES Center (where one in three individuals live below the poverty line) with an average annual income of $18,000 and an employment rate of 30%. Over 90% of our families struggle to make ends meet, facing barriers to moving out of poverty such as limited job skills and a lack of childcare, critical supports, and/or strong social networks. Poverty is an intergenerational issue, with children born into the lowest income quintile being nearly five times more likely to remain in the bottom quintile than to reach the top as adults. Over generations, growing gaps lead to entrenched, community-level inequalities, toxic stress due to chronic scarcity, and poor physical and mental health outcomes. LIFT believes that parents are the CEOs and architects of their families, and when we invest in parents, we can impact two generations at once. Research notes even a $3,000 increase in parents’ income leads to benefits for their children—including a 17% increase in the child’s future earnings. As such, LIFT’s two-generation model aims to help parents achieve financial stability and personal well-being through personalized wraparound supports to transform their families' trajectories for generations to come. To do this, LIFT pairs parents of children ages 0-8 (“members”) with Master of Social Work student interns and clinical staff (“coaches”) to develop long-term family goals. Coaches collaborate with members to create action plans and find resources that can support their families in making their goals a reality. By supporting parents, LIFT strives to give parents the tools, knowledge, and confidence they need to better support their children.