Hope Enterprise Corporation cuts ribbon on New Orleans Charter School
August 19th, 2015
New Orleans, LA (August 19, 2015) – Hope Enterprise Corporation (HOPE) celebrated the re-opening of McDonogh 42, a charter school located in New Orleans’ 7th Ward following significant damage incurred from Hurricane Katrina. Through the New Markets Tax Credit Program, HOPE provided $6 million in financing for the school’s $23 million rehabilitation. The school will provide a high-quality learning environment for 550 K-8th grade students, including state-of-the-art classrooms, science labs and a library / media center. Ninety-nine percent of the students attending McDonogh 42 are racial minorities and all of the students are eligible for free and reduced lunch.
The McDonogh 42 project represents the first investment of the HOPE Charter School Facilities Fund (CSFF). Over the next five years, HOPE’s CSFF will invest $70 million in the acquisition, renovation and new construction of charter school facilities that will serve low-income families and distressed communities in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee.In addition to providing financing for the project, HOPE is actively working with the school to launch a children’s savings account program and to connect parents, faculty and residents of the surrounding community to HOPE’s products and services.
“Supporting opportunities for students to succeed through the transformation of McDonogh 42 is at the heart of our mission,” said Bill Bynum, CEO of HOPE. “We look forward to an ongoing partnership with the leadership of the school to provide financial education, child savings accounts and other services for the children, families, and staff of McDonogh 42 as well as in the surrounding community.”
