Company Profile

Company Overview

Hope Enterprise Corporation/Hope Federal Credit Union (HOPE) is a financial institution, intermediary and policy center dedicated to strengthening communities, building assets and improving lives in economically distressed areas throughout the Mid South. HOPE provides affordable financial products and related services; leverages private, public and philanthropic resources; and engages in policy analysis for the purpose of addressing development hurdles facing low-wealth people and communities (such as jobs, housing, healthcare, etc.) that cannot be addressed with the resources of any one sector by itself.

Through HOPE’s efforts, more than $600 million in financing has been provided to entrepreneurs, homebuyers and community development projects, benefiting more than 40,000 individuals in the Delta, Katrina-affected areas and other distressed communities across the Mid South. HOPE has been recognized with awards from the Annie E. Casey Foundation, Co-op America, Ernst & Young, the Kauffman Foundation, NAACP, National Federation of Community Development Credit Unions, National Rural Assembly and Wachovia Bank.

HOPE offers a range of affordable products and services that advance entrepreneurship, home ownership and community development in economically distressed areas. These include:

• Commercial loans for microenterprises, community facilities, nonprofits, affordable housing developers, minority/women-owned companies, and other businesses that promote jobs and equity and strengthen communities

• Mortgage loans and consumer financial services that help individuals and families build and retain assets

• Community development partnerships that extend credit union services to underserved communities in collaboration with local faith and community-based organizations, employers, etc., and expand access to financing and technical assistance such as business planning, accounting, credit counseling, etc.

• Hurricane recovery & rebuilding: As the primary financial institution serving low-wealth residents in areas devastated by Hurricane Katrina, HOPE is using its capabilities to help rebuild jobs, homes and lives in the Gulf Region.

• Policy advocacy: ECD conducts and disseminates analysis in the areas of budget and tax policy, lending practices, affordable housing, and other matters that affect working families and low-wealth residents, for the purpose of informing related policies and programs.

• Socially responsible investments: Through Hope Community Credit Union, thousands of socially responsible individuals, congregations, nonprofits, banks, corporations, and other mission-driven organizations convert federally insured deposits into financial services for low-wealth people and communities.