HOPE Matters: July 2018

July 9th, 2018

Groundbreaking Held in Mississippi for Camp Kamassa, a Project Financed by HOPE’s Community Facilities Re-Lending Program

Work is underway on a new camp in Mississippi for special needs children, and the project received its financing through HOPE’s Community Facilities Relending Program. U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson and Mississippi First Lady Deborah Bryant were among the speakers at the recent ground-breaking for Camp Kamassa in Crystal Springs, Miss. The camp is a project of the Mississippi’s Toughest Kids Foundation, founded in 2008 by Mary Kitchens. The camp will be the first of its kind in Mississippi and both Thompson and Bryant were among those who served as advisors or provided support for the project. Kitchens says the camp’s name, “Kamassa,” is a Choctaw word that means “tough and perseverant,” and it aptly describes the youth it will serve. HOPE’s financing helped to secure materials for the project, which is located on 326 acres and will include several buildings, a sports field, pool, amphitheater and nature trails. Another financing partner on the project was Fahe, one of HOPE’s partners that works to eliminate persistent poverty in Appalachia and also has a Community Facilities Re-Lending Program.

HOPE Opens New Branch at Crosstown Concourse in Memphis, Tennessee

HOPE was joined by community partners, credit union members and other supporters to celebrate the opening of its new branch at Crosstown Concourse in Memphis, Tenn. Among the speakers at the event were Tonja Sesley-Baymon, president and CEO of the Memphis Urban League, and Annie Wallace, a HOPE member who attributes her current financial “success” to the credit union. Wallace was living in Chicago when she lost her job and then her home. She exhausted her savings and took a payday loan, to help cover expenses, but her bills and the loan fees continued to escalate. She finally moved to Memphis to stay with a friend, and she soon heard about HOPE, where she first sought credit counseling before receiving a series of credit building loans. “I am a HOPE success,” Wallace told those gathered at the ribbon-cutting ceremony. “HOPE helped me to restore and rebuild. I bought a new home in May and just recently, a new car.” Baymon, also a HOPE member and her organization a partner, applauded HOPE for offering solutions to the issue of payday lending traps in Memphis.

HOPE Raises $105K in Support of Financial Inclusion Work in the Deep South

A HOPE campaign launched to highlight financial inclusion work in the Mississippi Delta raised more than $105,000 over a five-day period. The campaign ended the day after HOPE was named the winner of the 2018 Wall Street Journal Financial Inclusion Challenge. Sixty friends of HOPE donated nearly $53,000, unlocking a $50,000 matching gift made in honor of HOPE SVP Phil Eide. The Wall Street Journal Challenge is part of the national publication’s initiative to highlight the struggles that millions of Americans face in attaining financial security. HOPE received the Financial Inclusion Challenge honor “for its efforts to provide banking services in underserved regions of the American South,” according to The Wall Street Journal.

HOPE Signs MOU with Latino Memphis, Expanding Financial Access to an Underserved Community

HOPE recently signed a partnership agreement with Latino Memphis, a nonprofit organization that provides educational and career advancement opportunities to the city’s Hispanic community. Under the agreement, HOPE becomes the organization’s preferred financial institution for referral. HOPE provides financial counseling and helps Latino Memphis participants navigate financial pathways. “The mission of Latino Memphis aligns with HOPE’s,” said Candias Hayes, VP Regional Branch Administrator. “This partnership is an opportunity to reach more underserved populations in the Memphis community.”

Melbatine Hunter, a single mother of two, put herself through college to improve her life and future prospects. But her student loan debt had created a barrier to homeownership. She had worked hard to earn a degree, and now that investment was preventing her from securing a home loan, stopping her from building wealth that she could pass on to her children. She didn’t know where she should turn until she heard about HOPE.

Homeownership is the primary means through which most Americans build wealth and provides not only long-term physical stability but financial stability as well. It is imperative to increase the number of affordable and sustainable housing options so that all families have an opportunity to climb the economic ladder.

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