WASHINGTON–Hope Credit Union and Hope Enterprise Corporation were recognized with the 2019 Housing Visionary Award from the National Housing Conference during a gala here that recognized organizations and individuals making significant contributions toward advancing affordable housing.
“HOPE Enterprise Corporation exemplifies the values of the National Housing Conference, believing that everyone in America should have equal opportunity to live in a quality, affordable home in a thriving community,” said David M. Dworkin, president and CEO of NHC.
Bill Bynum, CEO of the Jackson, Miss.-based organizations, who was in Washington to accept the award, said stable, affordable housing anchors communities, creates wealth and puts families on a path to success.
“At a time when the income and wealth divide is growing wider, it is imperative to ensure that everyone, particularly those who are most vulnerable, has the opportunity to realize this most fundamental aspect of the American Dream,” said Bynum.
$300 Million in Financing
HOPE Enterprise was launched 25 years ago as a business loan fund serving 55 counties in the Mid South Delta region. In 2000, HOPE launched its mortgage program, and has since provided more than $300 million in financing for homeownership and affordable housing.
After Hurricane Katrina, HOPE also worked to construct some of the first homes on the Mississippi coast after the storm, and later managed the state’s counseling program that assisted more than 9,000 homeowners.
HOPE has financed more than 6,000 homes and affordable housing units, including the renovation of 44 homes in Eastmoor Estates, a housing development built in the 1970s outside Moorhead, Miss., that had been plagued by faulty wiring, crumbling foundations and open sewage.