MetLife Foundation | Financial Opportunity Centers

LISC (Local Initiatives Support Corporation) ​
Community-based organizations can better help lower income people find work and achieve greater financial stability by “bundling” key services, including employment, financial coaching, and improved access to public benefits. This “integrated service delivery” approach has been proven to help clients achieve better outcomes in net worth, credit scores, and job placement and retention. And it is at the heart of LISC’s Financial Opportunity Center (FOC) network. LISC partners with community-based organizations to operate FOCs in lower-income communities, providing one-on-one financial coaching. The personalized coaching helps clients to develop a plan and then, most critically, take action to implement that plan—with ongoing support from their coaches. MetLife Foundation supports FOCs in 11 cities across the United States to expand “Bridges to Career Opportunities,” a program which connects core FOC offerings with tailored education and skills-development to help clients find good jobs. Our grant is also supporting training and technical assistance to LISC staff, and funds behavioral economics research and pilot tests to address issues like client retention and financial product uptake. 

Learn more about MetLife Foundation's commitment to financial literacy in their 2015 Annual Report