Credit on Campus

In 2017, HOPE opened the Provine High School-Hope Credit Union branch, the first student-run credit union branch in Jackson.

The project was three years in the making. HOPE began working with Jackson Public Schools and Alignment Jackson, a nonprofit organization focused on student achievement, to launch the credit union located on the Provine campus in 2014. 

Provine faculty, staff, and students 18 and older are eligible to open accounts at the school branch location, which operates two days a week with students at the helm. Students interested in working in the branch interviewed for positions, then completed a rigorous training process. In exchange for their service they receive school credit and hands-on experience in every aspect of operating a financial operation.

Markese Lee, a Provine honor student, is one of the student credit union workers. Lee already had checking and savings accounts, opened with money he earned working at Kroger. He decided to move his money to HOPE, explaining, “Credit unions prefer working for the people instead of working for themselves.”

“Working at the credit union has been a fun experience,” Lee says. “I’ve led small seminars with other students and helped them understand the point of budgeting and saving their money instead of using it for frivolous things they don’t need. It makes me feel great to know I’m doing something positive, helping students my age or younger learn how to manage their money.”