HOPE Receives $1.5 Million to Support Community Development in Mid South

CDFI Is in Top Allocation Tier

Jackson, Miss—HOPE (Hope Enterprise Corporation/Hope Credit Union) has received an allocation of $1.5 million from the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund. HOPE will use the funds to help spur economic growth and recovery, as well as expand access to affordable financial products and services.

The awards are being made through the fiscal year 2011 round of the CDFI Fund’s cornerstone program, the Community Development Financial Institutions Program (CDFI Program), and represent the largest single round of monetary awards in the CDFI Fund’s history. HOPE received of highest award amount available during this round of funding. Hope was the only organization in Mississippi and Tennessee, one of three in Arkansas, and one of six in Louisiana to receive an award.

“HOPE has worked hard to become one of the nation’s most effective CDFIs, and we are excited to receive this funding based on the merits of our plan to use it here in the Mid South,” said HOPE CEO Bill Bynum. “While other financial institutions have restricted lending, HOPE continues to see strong demand, and we are providing financial resources to small businesses, homebuyers and working families.”

CDFI Fund Director Donna J. Gambrell joined U.S. Senator Dick Durbin and U.S Representative Danny Davis to announce awards totaling $142,302,667 for 155 Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) serving economically distressed communities across the nation. The organizations awarded are headquartered in 40 states and the District of Columbia.

“Every community deserves to have access to basic financial products and services, from bank accounts to affordable home and car loans. The CDFI Program provides access to rural and urban communities across the country by investing in local financial institutions that serve these communities,” said Deputy Treasury Secretary Neal Wolin. “Today’s awards will provide much-needed capital to help community-based financial institutions offer products and services that would otherwise be out of reach for thousands of low-income Americans.”

HOPE is a regional financial institution, community development intermediary and policy center that provides affordable financial services; leverages private, public and philanthropic resources; and engages in policy analysis in order to fulfill its mission of strengthening communities, building assets, and improving lives in economically distressed parts of the Mid South.

Over the years HOPE’s efforts have generated over $1.4 billion in financing and benefited more than 75,000 individuals in the Delta, Katrina-affected areas and other distressed communities throughout Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee.

HOPE was selected for an allocation after a competitive review of 393 applications received by the CDFI Fund from organizations across the nation that requested, in total, nearly $466 million in funding under the FY 2011 round of the CDFI Program.