For Immediate Release:
LIFT was announced today as a member of the Aspen Institute Ascend Network, a new network of leading organizations using two-generation approaches to disrupt poverty and create economic mobility for families. LIFT is one of the initial 58 organizations, selected from 24 states and the District of Columbia, that represent the leading edge of a national movement around two-generation approaches. Two-generation approaches look at the whole family’s needs and provide opportunities for children and their parents together.
“These leaders are fueling change for America’s families,” said Walter Isaacson, president and CEO of the Aspen Institute. “As we reflect on the 50th anniversary of the ‘War on Poverty,’ the Aspen Institute is proud to invest in transformational ideas to break the cycle of intergenerational poverty.”
The Aspen Institute identified LIFT through a highly selective national competition. More than 250 organizations applied to join the Network and receive funding from the Aspen Institute Ascend Fund. The selected organizations ranged from community colleges seeking to better serve student parents and their children, to early childhood centers engaging parents in pathways to employment, to two-generation partnerships spearheaded by Promise Neighborhoods, United Ways, and women’s foundations.
In the United States today, nearly 45 percent of all children live in low-income families. Almost 25 percent of today’s college students are parents. Yet our education and human services systems have not kept up with the needs of 21st century families. Together, LIFT and the Ascend Network are redesigning programs and policies to create a legacy of opportunity that passes from one generation to the next.
See the complete list of Ascend Network members at http://ascend.aspeninstitute.org/network. Visit www.liftcommunities.org and @liftcommunities and @aspenascend for more information.
About LIFT
LIFT helps lift families out of poverty for good. LIFT pairs rigorously trained Advocates with committed families to build the strong personal, social and financial foundations they need to get ahead. By setting their own goals and working hard to achieve them, families are equipped to get a decent job, a safe home and a quality education for themselves and their children. 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: Boston, Chicago, DC, New York, Los Angeles and Philadelphia. 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