Treasury Department Program Helps Credit Union Expansion to Serve Economically Distressed Communities Across the Mid South

August 1, 2008

Memphis, TN - Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund Director, Donna J. Gambrell, attended the opening celebration for Hope Community Credit Union's ("HOPE") first Tennessee-based branch in the Midtown neighborhood of Memphis. HOPE is a community development credit union and certified-CDFI sponsored by the Enterprise Corporation of the Delta (ECD). Shelby County Mayor, the Honorable A.C. Wharton, Jr., also participated in the celebration.

"By working with a range of partners, both public and private, ECD/HOPE has become one of the nation’s most effective community development financial institutions," said Director Gambrell. "They have successfully used a $15 million New Markets Tax Credit allocation and converted that into over $50 million in loans for economically distressed communities across the
Mid South."

To date, ECD/HOPE has received over $10 million in Financial Assistance awards under the CDFI Program and $30 million in New Market Tax Credit allocations from the CDFI Fund. Since 1994, ECD/HOPE has provided more than $1 billion in financing to entrepreneurs, homebuyers and community development projects, benefiting more than 40,000 individuals in the Delta, Hurricane Katrina-affected areas and other distressed communities across the Mid South.

With the opening of the Midtown branch, HOPE will make the full range of its affordable financial services more accessible to residents of the greater Memphis area and provide affordable alternatives to predatory and subprime lenders. HOPE is expanding its loan programs, and improving access to deposit and cash services such as savings accounts, IRAs and an ATM machine. HOPE’s products target low- and moderate-income people and are designed to foster economic stability and build assets. In addition to business and mortgage loans, HOPE offers several consumer services including checking & savings accounts, CDs, IRAs, internet banking, and ATM/debit cards.

About the CDFI Fund

The CDFI Fund was created for the purpose of promoting economic and community development through investment in and assistance to Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs). The CDFI Fund's role in promoting community and economic development was expanded in FY 2001 when the Secretary of the Treasury delegated to the CDFI Fund the responsibility of administering the New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) Program.

Since its creation in 1994, the CDFI Fund has awarded $864 million to CDFIs, community development organizations and financial institutions through CDFI Program, the Bank Enterprise Award (BEA) Program, and the Native Initiatives. In addition, the CDFI Fund has allocated $16 billion in tax credit authority to community development entities (CDEs) through the NMTC Program.

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