New Hope Credit Union Branch Expands Access to Financial Resources to Underserved Seventh Ward in New Orleans
May 24th, 2019
NEW ORLEANS, LA – Hope Credit Union (HOPE), joined by community partners, elected officials, credit union members and other supporters, held a ribbon-cutting ceremony this week for its new branch on Elysian Fields Avenue in New Orleans. 
The new location – HOPE’s third in New Orleans and the 29th in its five-state service area – is located in the CrescentCare health center, which provides a spectrum of care at low to no cost for residents in the city. HOPE was a financing partner on the health center, and its new branch there allows the credit union to expand access to critical financial tools in underserved communities.
“The branch builds on the foundation laid in 2004, when we opened our Central City branch, and the role we played helping residents of this great city recover and rebuild after Hurricane Katrina,” HOPE CEO Bill Bynum said during the May 21 event. “We are proud to expand our capacity to ensure that all New Orleans residents have access to the tools needed to climb the economic ladder.”
Dr. Mona Lisa Saloy, president of the 7th Ward Neighborhood Association said neighbors in her ward “welcome businesses that have our best interest at heart, and Hope Credit Union offers a great opportunity for business and personal financial services at reasonable rates for growth and prosperity.”
In addition to personal financial services, HOPE has made deep investments throughout New Orleans by financing new schools, small businesses, and fresh food retailers. HOPE’s comprehensive approach not only improves conditions in communities, but also empowers the families who live there.
HOPE’s work was recently featured on national media outlets, including the Today Show and CNBC, for its “Rural Places, Rural Spaces: Closing Financial Service Gaps in Persistent Poverty America” policy forum, which brought Federal Reserve Board Chairman Jerome Powell to the Mississippi Delta to deliver remarks to a gathering of banking, philanthropy, impact investing and community development leaders from across the nation.
About HOPE
HOPE (Hope Enterprise Corporation, Hope Credit Union and Hope Policy Institute) provides affordable financial services; leverages private, public and philanthropic resources; and engages in policy analysis to fulfill its mission of strengthening communities, building assets, and improving lives in economically distressed parts of Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee. Since 1994, HOPE has generated over $2 billion in financing that has benefitted more than one million residents in one of the nation’s most impoverished regions.
