2017 4th Quarter Report
Dear Friends,
The end of 2017 marked the close of a year that saw HOPE bring more people into the banking system, provide mortgages to more new homebuyers, and finance more business owners than any other time in our 23 years of existence. During the year, we also strengthened vital community infrastructure by breaking ground on a new health care center, opening grocery stores in food deserts, revitalizing school facilities and developing quality affordable housing throughout the Deep South.
Despite this progress, whole swaths of our region still lack adequate housing, jobs, healthcare facilities and schools. Our goal is to convert these deserts into opportunity oases where everyone has the ability to pursue the American Dream.
Because of you, we have demonstrated how this can be done. Together, we are countering the effects of chronic disinvestment by making transformative investments that create mobility pathways. Thank you for ongoing support as we forge ahead to even greater accomplishments in 2018.
Sincerely,
Bill Bynum, CEO, HOPE
A Family’s Freedom to Save
Most of Daniel and Carmen Cavazos’ hard-earned salaries went toward high-interest auto loan and credit card payments, leaving little at the end of the month for them and their two young children. The couple had financed their vehicle through an alternative lender who offers loans to Hispanics, who have an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) instead of a social security number. The Cavazos speak limited English, a situation that creates a barrier to financial service access for many immigrants. So, when they came to HOPE our bilingual staff communicated with them in Spanish. HOPE helped the couple refinance the vehicle with a low fixed interest rate, allowing them to consolidate debt for a lower monthly payment. Now, more of Daniel’s wages as a gas pipe construction worker and Carmen’s earnings as a caterer can go toward savings for their children.
Expanded Care Home for Seniors
Ruthie Alexander transformed a 4,000-square foot house into a haven for seniors, some of whom, suffering from Alzheimer’s and dementia, had no other place to turn. Thanks to a business loan from HOPE, Alexander’s supportive living facility recently expanded, allowing her to purchase a house adjacent to her existing business. With the additional rooms, Alexander can welcome more residents in the space that features private bedrooms with flat-screen TVs, a sitting room with a fireplace and a miniature spa room. “I have a heart for the elderly and I want them to be somewhere nice,” says Alexander.
First-Time Homeowner at 69
Chester Wright didn’t finish college after he was drafted for the Vietnam War. He spent his later years plying his skills in electrical work before retiring due to a disability. Then, at the age of 69, Mr. Wright achieved what he had thought was out of reach – he bought his first home with the help of HOPE. After attending HOPE’s homebuyer classes and starting a savings fund with his monthly income, he was approved for a mortgage loan. The 100-year-old, wood-frame house in New Orleans’ Shrewsbury community once belonged to a black, female entrepreneur who sold fruit and vegetables from a cart. She left the house to Wright’s mother, and he recently bought it from his siblings. “I’ve never felt better in my life,” he says. “I have children and I have something I can leave them now.”
Credit-Building in Retirement (pictured above)
Bettie Ewing was in her late 50s when she decided to start building her credit. After seeing a HOPE presentation on products and services, she joined HOPE at the Biloxi branch. Ewing, a retired nursing home cook, says her credit was nonexistent when she became a HOPE member. Through HOPE, she had access to responsible loan products that helped build her credit to over 600. Once she built her credit, she was finally able to get an auto loan to purchase her first vehicle – a Dodge Dakota. Ewing says she’s in the process of looking for a home to pursue a mortgage with HOPE.
4th Quarter News
US Partnership on Mobility from Poverty Releases ‘Restoring the American Dream’
A diverse, nonpartisan collection of some of the nation’s leading scholars, policy experts, and practitioners working on solutions to poverty in the US has developed a framework of strategies to change the trajectory for millions of people in America. Restoring the American Dream is the first in a series of upcoming communications from the US Partnership on Mobility from Poverty, a group of 24 experts that includes HOPE CEO Bill Bynum. Through publications, webinars and events, the Partnership will detail findings from its research and conversations with people across the country over the past two years. The definition of mobility the Partnership developed has three core principles: economic success, power and autonomy, and being valued in community. These principles guided the development of a series of ideas that are part of five interconnected strategies: change the narrative, create access to good jobs, ensure zip code is not destiny, provide support that empowers and transform data use. To learn more about this effort, visit www.mobilitypartnership.org.
New HOPE Product Helps More Immigrants Achieve Dream of Homeownership
HOPE begins 2018 offering a new mortgage product to advance homeownership opportunities among non-US citizens who have an Individual Tax Identification Number (ITIN). Implemented successfully by credit unions across the country, the product provides a pathway to homeownership for immigrants. The new product is part of HOPE’s comprehensive strategy to increase accessibility and availability of HOPE’s financial services for Hispanic families and communities across the Deep South. HOPE recognizes that financial service gaps serve as a barrier to economic opportunity.
