Overview

Local Community Development Initiative (LCDI) Program

We have seen how issues like homelessness and poverty are impacting our own community, and how they have gotten progressively worse each year. These are issues that we see every single day, and we feel that it is absolutely critical that we do our part to uplift our neighbors in order to help end the cycle of poverty and to build healthy, thriving communities.This is why the Amalfi Foundation established our Local Community Development Initiative (LCDI), which is focused on directly changing the lives of those across Greater Los Angeles and Conejo Valley who are homeless and/or struggling with extreme poverty by providing support, education, and resources to establish a clear path to a stable, successful future.

Through the LCDI program, the Amalfi Foundation is working with low-income individuals and families by providing 6 months of financial assistance - spanning everything from rent to utilities to food costs and more - and coaching by a LCDI Support Team - comprised of a case manager, a financial consultant, and a career advisor - to develop and execute an individualized plan to identify barriers to success, establish personal and career goals, and provide resources to assist each individual in becoming sustainably self-sufficient.Through this program, clients and the LCDI team collaborate to ensure consistent progress is being made towards their ultimate vision and goals, and focus on the path towards achieving quality employment, stable housing, and strategies for long-term financial health.

The LCDI Program is an Amalfi Foundation Initiative which takes a proactive and individualized approach to philanthropy. Through our non-profit partners in the homeless shelter community, we on the daily receive numerous recommendations of currently unhoused individuals that could benefit from our program.

The LCDI Program is a 6-month accelerator to help currently unhoused or low-income individuals get on a clear path to a better life. We meet on a weekly basis with our LCDI Candidates to establish their 6-month growth plan and prioritize career development, personal financial budgeting, and overall organization of their life. Through the program, we focus on giving our LCDI Candidates the tools they need to succeed on their own and be self-sufficient, so at the end of the program they will be able to take over their monthly expenses themselves.

See the first hand impact of the Local Community Development Initiative (LCDI) in our local community. These are the voices of change.

The LCDI Framework

The LCDI Program operates on a Motivational Interviewing Framework which is an evidence based approach to behavior change. This framework has 4 fundamental tenets:

  • Engaging: This is the foundation of MI. The goal is to establish a productive working relationship through careful listening to understand and accurately reflect the person’s experience and perspective while affirming strengths and supporting autonomy.

  • Focusing: In this process an agenda is negotiated that draws on both the client and practitioner expertise to agree on a shared purpose, which gives the clinician permission to move into a directional conversation about change.

  • Evoking: In this process the clinician gently explores and helps the person to build their own “why” of change through eliciting the client’s ideas and motivations. Ambivalence is normalized, explored without judgement and, as a result, may be resolved. This process requires skillful attention to the person’s talk about change.

  • Planning: Planning explores the “how” of change where the MI practitioner supports the person to consolidate commitment to change and develop a plan based on the person’s own insights and expertise. This process is optional and may not be required, but if it is the timing and readiness of the client for planning is important.

Source: https://motivationalinterviewing.org/

Developing Key Goals

Within the first meeting, our team works directly with our LCDI Candidates to establish their short-term and long terms. It’s important that we allow the Candidates to choose their own path, while ensuring that their path is clear, actionable, and sustainable post-program. Each Candidate charts out their goals and works with our 1:1 Case Managers to help them establish a clear plan of action. Taking a comprehensive wraparound approach, we prioritize housing, career, financial, social, and emotional goals. It’s paramount that these goals contribute to the overall development of our Candidates throughout the LCDI Program.

Promoting Financial Health

As financial health is paramount to one’s livelihood, we prioritize their understanding of financial education and provide strategies for maintaining long-term sustainability. We review personal spending habits, fixed costs, and income sources and teach our clients to create a defined budget within their constraints. We also assist with funding their basic needs during the 6-month program so that they can save their capital and graduate our program with a healthy savings account.

Some of the basic needs we fund include:

  • Rent Assistance

  • Career Certifications

  • Professional Apparel

  • Grocery Costs

  • Car Insurance

  • Gas Cards

  • Healthcare

  • Mental Health Referrals

  • Other Individualized Assistance

Prioritizing Quality Careers

A stable, quality career is the cornerstone of social mobility and long-term success. We assist with refining resumes, discussing career paths, and developing LinkedIn profiles. Beyond this, we prepare them for the big day by practicing key interview skills and buying the professional attire needed to secure employment with confidence. We also provide coaching and mentorship for maintaining performance and employability once a job is secured.

Upon securing a job, we regularly meet with our clients to ensure they are not only performing well in their roles, but are on a path to achieve upward growth in their careers.

Ensuring Longevity & Self-Sufficiency

Our ultimate goal for the LCDI Program is to address the root cause of individuals’ needs and invest in their long-term stability and success to ensure a brighter future. For us, Self-Sufficiency means that upon graduating from our program, our clients can take the reins of their lives into their own hands and have the confidence and security to maintain the healthy living habits they have learned over the past 6 months.

Even upon culmination, they are still part of the Amalfi Foundation and their continued success is our utmost priority and we hold regular check-in calls to evaluate their success and determine if we can continue to help in any way.