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LIFT is a national non-profit organization whose mission is to ”combat poverty and expand opportunity” for all people in the United States. Every year, LIFT trains a core of student volunteers to assist low-income individuals to secure housing, income, healthcare, education, and other necessities. LIFT has no eligibility requirements and provides free services. Yale University students Kirsten Lodal and Brian Kreiter founded LIFT in 1998. Currently, LIFT has offices in New York, Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia and Washington DC. Before 2009, LIFT was called National Student Partnerships (NSP).

LIFT History

Kirsten Lodel and Brian Krieter founded LIFT in the fall of 1998 while students at Yale University. Lodal and Kreiter originally conceived the idea to start LIFT after volunteering in various child services programs around New Haven. They were struck by the lack of services for the parents of the children in these programs. 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. Initially, these services included finding employment, securing housing, obtaining public benefits, and making connections with other service agencies.

In their effort, Lodal and Kreiter consulted with community members and leaders from New Haven, Connecticut as well as policy experts in Washington DC. The goal of their model was to bypass the traditional shortcomings of episodic and thin volunteer service programs. LIFT established their first center in New Haven, CT and soon recruited student leaders on college campuses across the country to build these community service centers using the LIFT model within their communities.

Approach

LIFT volunteers work with clients individually to secure stable housing, to utilize public benefits and tax credits, and obtain referrals for services like childcare and healthcare. Simultaneously, LIFT trains volunteers to help low-income individuals while also preparing volunteers to explore the problems in their local communities related to poverty, race, and policy. Since the organization’s founding, over 5,000 volunteers have served more than 30,000 low-income individuals.

LIFT focuses on five essential asset areas: basic necessities, employment/financial stability, housing, education/training, and healthcare. LIFT volunteers help clients holistically address their immediate and long-term needs while making concrete steps towards achieving their goals. This focus allows LIFT clients to develop an internal “toolkit” in order to independently overcome current and future challenges. Specifically, volunteers concentrate on strengthening client’s goal-setting and problem-solving skills, knowledge of community resources, self-confidence, and an ability to advocate for themselves.