One-Stop Shop for Financial Success

Sharon Holloway has gone from carrying balances on 10 credit cards to paying cash for everything. Thanks to a HOPE home equity loan that consolidated her unmanageable credit card debt and provided additional funds for home renovations, Holloway now pays $900 per month and is preparing to make upgrades to her house in Memphis, TN.

“It was either get this loan or work myself to death to pay off those credit cards,” Holloway said. Her payments were not reducing the amount owed because of high-interest rates. But HOPE’s proactive outreach saved her from having to get a second job.

Zachary Rodgers, a HOPE Financial Inclusion Officer (FIO), met Holloway during a HOPE membership drive at the Shelby County government offices, where Holloway works for the Community Service Agency. “I connect the dots between the community and HOPE. I’m out all day every day,” Rodgers said.

When he spoke to Holloway, who had a HOPE checking account, he told her that she could consolidate all her high-interest credit card debt into a loan and still have funds remaining for home renovations. Holloway said she had been declined for a loan at a local bank because of a low credit rating, but Rodgers explained options were available at HOPE because the loan would consolidate and eliminate her credit card balances resulting in one, affordable monthly payment.

Holloway is grateful for Rodgers’ persistence in working to help her. “I was excited. I just had to get my husband on board. That was the hard part.” Holloway said. Her husband was reluctant to take on another payment obligation. However, after Rodgers explained that this loan would simplify and reduce their payments, Holloway’s husband was sold. “Zach made it convenient for us, so we didn’t have to take time off from work. He came to my job to meet me.” The loan totaled $89,000. Holloway and her husband are planning to use the remaining amount to paint, remodel bathrooms, lay new flooring and purchase a new washer and dryer.

Rodgers said he values the relationships with HOPE’s members. “I helped a family who didn’t think they would be approved, and loved seeing the relief in their faces. I’m giving them something that will make a difference in their lives.”

The loan closed in late October 2023. “It’s a sense of freedom, of relief,” Holloway said of the loan that eliminated her debt. “I sleep a little better at night.”