A couple of decades back, William Bynum of Jackson, Miss., started something he called the Hope Community Credit Union. He had 800 customers, not even a quarter of a million dollars, but big plans. His low-interest credit union, which lent money to low-income families to buy houses and small businesses, would expand. It now serves 28,000 people in four states, including this one, with $170 million in assets.

An outfit in Washington, D.C., named the Aspen Institute awarded the McNulty Prize to Mr. Bynum this week-along with a handy $100,000-and the news made the papers. When he was given the news, William Bynum said, “It’s always nice when someone says what you do has value.”

Yes, sir.

Imagine that-a program focusing on the poor in the Mississippi Delta that actually works. And although Hope Community’s website says it does get some grants from the government, it is not a government program. What it is, though, is a private enterprise that helps those who need it the most. And it has proven how successful folks can be when they pull together. Just like an old Building & Loan featured in a Christmasy movie in black and white.

Democrat-Gazette reporter Ken Heard also profiled Bill and HOPE in a news story. Read the full article.

“There is a great deal of potential in the mid-South,” Bynum said. “But the resources were not always readily available. We stepped in and provided a safety net for small businesses without capital.”

“It’s always nice when someone says what you do has value,” Bynum said. “The award is given to leaders who want to make a contribution to society. All we wanted to do was provide a market-driven solution to problems that affect the lives of those living in the Delta.”

Jeff Ayers from the Jackson Clarion-Ledger wrote a Sunday Conversations profile on HOPE and its CEO. Read the full article.

Bill Bynum’s first exposure to a credit union came as a child when he would accompany his grandmother to one based not behind a glass window or in a Main Street storefront, but in the garage of a family friend.

That was in the small mill town of Bynum, N.C., a town named, he said, after the family that owned his ancestors.

It was in that makeshift credit union where Bynum’s grandmother got loans for a new washing machine, a house for Bynum’s mother and a suit for Bynum to wear to college. It also gave the young Bynum a direction in life — starting his own credit union, one that would focus on people and communities most in need.

“That never left me,” he said.

We were also featured in the Credit Union Times by writer Michelle A. Samaad. Read the full article.

Consider sharing these stories with others as we grow our base of support and extend our reach through the Friends of HOPE initiative.

See the original McNulty Prize announcement.

The post HOPE Gets Coverage for Receipt of McNulty Prize appeared first on Hope CU.

The article reads in part:
I serve as vice chairman of the CFPB’s Consumer Advisory Board (CAB), and this week the CAB and key bureau staff met in my home state of Mississippi. The reason the CFPB holds meetings at different locations across the country — and away from Washington, DC — is to gain greater insight into the circumstances unique to particular communities, and to spread the word about the bureau’s work.

In small towns from the Mississippi Delta to the southwestern corner of the state, we heard from teachers, students, retired people, business owners, bankers, public officials and ordinary citizens. They spoke about the challenges they face when they try to borrow money to buy a house, to cover emergency medical expenses, attend college or to start a business. A big obstacle, they told us, is the closing of bank branches in small towns and low-income neighborhoods.

One of the most important ways the CFPB can have an impact on this kind of large scale, national problem is to make sure the information is available to assess whether a bank or other financial institution’s actions have a disproportionate affect on vulnerable populations such as senior citizens, students, active or reserve military personnel and underserved communities.

“One of the bedrock principles at the (CFPB) is transparency,” Bureau Director Richard Cordray told people at a public meeting in Itta Bena, Miss. “We have a deep respect for the power that knowledge conveys.”

At Hope Credit Union, where I serve as CEO, we have assisted more than 400,000 people through responsibly structured financial services since 1994. One example is consolidating eight payday loans for a member who had taken out the loans in quick succession, to cover an emergency car repair. A small degree of effort and responsible judgment by any of the eight lenders would have revealed that she could not repay the debt by her next payday. Not surprisingly, it did not take long for rapidly accumulating renewal fees to create an inescapable debt trap.

Fortunately, the CFPB is working hard to understand how these and other abusive financial practices impact lives across the country, and is establishing and enforcing rules that protect every individual equally.

Read the full Huffington Post blog.

Read the release about the CFPB visit and new tools available to consumers.

The post Mississippians Report Financial Challenges to Consumer Protection Bureau appeared first on Hope CU.