An Opportunity to Relight the Pilot – Jackson, MS

Nick Wallace is the executive chef at the Mississippi Museum of Art, but for Wallace, food is more than just a career. It’s a way he can give back to his community. Wallace is a partner in Up in Farms, a program that helps small local farmers sell their produce to restaurants, grocery stores and schools. He is also the founder of Creativity Kitchen, a hands-on program that teaches Jackson Public School students about healthy eating and finds Wallace developing innovative, appealing menus for public school lunches.

Wallace has always been focused on the bigger picture. After graduating from culinary programs at Hinds Community College and Marriott International, he turned down job offers in Alaska and the Virgin Islands to remain in Mississippi, explaining, “I wanted to stay here and establish a foundation, create a new sense of place.” A home loan from Hope Credit Union meant more to Wallace than just buying a first home for himself and his family. It meant the beginning of a new family legacy.

“The majority of the men in my family didn’t make it past age 42,” Wallace says. “They died of alcoholism, high blood pressure, and unhealthy lifestyles. No one in my family had ever owned a business or a house. That is our family’s past.

“When I made the first mortgage payment, that’s when it got real,” Wallace continues. “It was a good moment. I had been immature in my past, but I had learned to take responsibility and to make sacrifices. Making that payment, I thought, ‘This is the world I live in now. Somebody’s taking charge. I am.’ This summer, we’ll have our first extended family reunion in this house. We never had a place to do that before. Buying this house felt like relighting the pilot light for my family. HOPE didn’t just give me a mortgage loan. HOPE helped me create a new family legacy.”