By fostering relationships between low-income parents (members) and dedicated volunteers (advocates), LIFT helps families build the strong personal, social and financial foundations to secure immediate, critical needs and to achieve long-term goals and aspirations.

LIFT connects with families through four sites located in communities with some of the highest rates of concentrated poverty: Chicago, Los Angeles, New York and Washington, DC.

Because this work cannot be done alone, LIFT focuses on building strong community collaborations with a wide range of local, regional and national partners to help ensure families receive the resources and support they need.

Lodal and Kreiter originally conceived the idea to start LIFT after volunteering in various child services programs around New Haven, Connecticut.

Lodal and Kreiter developed the idea of establishing a single center within their community where families could receive assistance from trained volunteers across a spectrum of social services.