JACKSON, Miss. – Hope Enterprise Corporation and Hope Credit Union (HOPE) here are reporting they provided a record $100 million in financing to address financial services gaps in low-income, minority and rural communities across the Deep South.
The organizations’ 2017 Impact Report, “From Transactions to Transformations,” also details HOPE’s service region expansion with the opening of three new locations, including the first branch in Alabama.
“For 24 years, HOPE has concentrated its resources on closing the financial service gaps that limit opportunity for people and places existing on the fringe of America’s economy,” said HOPE CEO Bill Bynum in a statement. “Our direct impact was multiplied by using data and lessons gleaned from transactions conducted by HOPE’s member-owners to engage government, philanthropy, banks and others to forge policies and practices that help transform banking deserts into opportunity oases.”
Family Stories Shared
The report includes stories of families across the region who have been placed on a path to economic mobility and of places transformed by new schools, small businesses and expanded access to healthy food options.
The report’s release comes weeks after HOPE was named winner of The Wall Street Journal Financial Inclusion Challenge for its work to expand financial services access in the Mississippi Delta region, as CUToday.info reported here.
Download the report.