The Door to Opportunity

Marcos was underbanked for several months after arriving in the U.S. “Other banks required a Social Security number and when I came, I was awaiting my legal status. HOPE was an option for me,” he said. HOPE’s efforts to expand financial access in the immigrant community includes using alternative forms of identification, including individual taxpayer identification numbers that are assigned to immigrant residents. In addition to conducting his banking transactions with HOPE, Marcos is also a partner. He previously collaborated with Latino Memphis, a nonprofit that provides advancement opportunities to the Hispanic community by offering financial mentoring to families. Now, he’s doing similar work at Freedom Preparatory Academy, where he’s introducing HOPE to families served by the school.