Through our Community Development Investment Service, Walden clients have invested in numerous community development banks, credit unions, and loan funds. We are pleased to be including ECD/HOPE in this service. When Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast last August, Jerry Moore, a New Orleans resident, was in the right place to grow his construction hauling business. There was only one problem. Even though Jerry and his family had evacuated the city safely, the hauling truck he used for his business was destroyed.

Jerry was already a member of Hope Community Credit Union (HOPE), having learned about the credit union last June when he attended a financing course at the Contractor’s College in New Orleans led by a HOPE branch manager. Later that year, Jerry’s church became a partner in the HOPE Affinity Network and began offering HOPE’s services to the congregation. When Jerry came in to open a checking account, he inquired about a commercial loan. As a result, he used a HOPE loan to secure a dump truck for his business.

After the hurricane, HOPE worked with Jerry to settle the insurance claim on the vehicle. He needed to resolve the situation quickly in order to respond to the urgent demand for contractors to help clear debris. Recently, Jerry financed two additional trucks through HOPE, and two trailers through HOPE’s Enterprise Corporation of the Delta (ECD).

Jerry Moore is one of many HOPE members in the hurricane-ravaged area assisted by the organization during recent months. Throughout its 11 year history HOPE has focused its services on economically distressed communities in the Mid- South. Working together, ECD and HOPE provide a range of financial and technical assistance to their individual members and their families, as well as to small businesses, nonprofits, and community development projects.

According to ECD/HOPE’s CEO, Bill Bynum, “HOPE allows socially responsible individuals and institutions to make a risk-free investment in people and communities that need it most. Depositors have enabled HOPE to help thousands of people. In light of Katrina, the need and opportunity for HOPE to make a difference in people’s lives is greater than ever.”

The main objectives of ECD/HOPE’s hurricane-related efforts are: fostering affordable, quality housing for low-wealth residents affected by the hurricane; helping businesses and nonprofits recover; and providing access to affordable financial products and services to help people rebuild their lives and their communities.

Since Hurricane Katrina, HOPE has made more than 400 no-interest bridge loans to help sustain families, homeowners, businesses, and nonprofits while they wait for insurance and government payments. Many of these have been made by a depleted staff contingent at HOPE’s New Orleans branch. Through its Hurricane Relief Fund, ECD has routed more than $500,000 to faith and community-based organizations working directly with low-wealth people affected by the hurricanes in Mississippi and Louisiana. Based in Jackson, Mississippi, with offices throughout the region, ECD/HOPE has generated more than $200 million in financing and assisted more than 20,000 individuals in economically- distressed communities.

—S. Slay

For more information, visit www.hopecu.org or call toll-free 1-877-654- HOPE.

Through our Community Development Investment Service, Walden clients have invested in numerous community development banks, credit unions, and loan funds. We are pleased to be including ECD/HOPE in this service.