LIFT Annual Report 2014: What Matters Most | Page 4

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WELCOME

Dear LIFTers,
50 years after the launch of the War on Poverty, we
have much work left to do. 50 million Americans live
in poverty and nearly one in two people are facing
some form of financial instability. The problem we
are facing is great, yet at LIFT we believe it is not
insurmountable. And the reason we believe this is
because of the determination and change we see
across our six regions every day.
In the last year, 10,000 people had the courage to
walk through our doors, commit to working hard in
partnership with our advocates, and in doing so,
give their dreams another shot. These people, our
Members, are incredible individuals striving to make a
better life for themselves and their families, and their
journeys take different shapes. One journey may be a
search for safe housing, another a plan to go back to
school, but regardless of what shape their goals take
we are committed to doing what it takes to support
them in achieving their dreams. What matters most at
LIFT – our bottom line – is our Members’ success.
Three years ago, we launched a strategic plan
premised on dramatically improving this bottom line.
By evolving our program model, we aspired to deepen
the impact of LIFT’s program on the lives of our
Members, and in doing so, demonstrate a new, highly
effective approach to helping people achieve stability
and well-being. In the last year, we made some big
changes to support this vision – we increased the
time our Advocates and Members meet, layered