Operation HOPE, Wells Fargo unveil first 'HOPE Inside' location in Gallup, New Mexico

Redesigned branch, new programs to serve Native American Community and help boost financial inclusion

ATLANTA, April 11, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Operation HOPE and Wells Fargo hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony to welcome the community to New Mexico's first 'HOPE Inside' center and redesigned Wells Fargo branch, which will serve a large community of Native Americans. Located at 300 W. Aztec Ave. in Gallup, NM, 87301, the updated branch includes a HOPE Inside center with a dedicated financial coach. Event attendees included leaders from Operation HOPE, Wells Fargo, the State Department and the Navajo Nation, among others.

The new Gallup HOPE Inside location will focus on programs and resources for individuals who are "unbanked" ? people without a mainstream banking account ? and "underbanked" ? people who have a bank account but still use costly alternative services, such as check cashing. Today more than half of unbanked households in the U.S. are Black and African American, Hispanic, and Native American/Alaska Native. The Operation HOPE coach will work 1:1 with clients, offering financial education and guidance on matters such as how to improve their credit scores, reduce debt and increase savings? at no cost.

"Operation HOPE has been dedicated to accelerating financial education for more than three decades, which makes a collaboration with them ideal for our Banking Inclusion Initiative," said Michael Martino, Head of Diverse Customer Segments for Consumer, Small and Business Banking, Wells Fargo. "Launching the first HOPE Inside center in New Mexico is not only a historic moment for both organizations, but an exciting step toward financial independence for many families."

"Our collaboration with Wells Fargo is about more than welcoming people to a revamped physical building; it's about empowering the people 'in' the buildings through financial literacy," said John Hope Bryant, Founder, Chairman and CEO, Operation HOPE. "We are grateful to Wells Fargo for their longstanding commitment to the transformational work of Operation HOPE. Together, we are helping diverse families increase their financial IQ, including our Native American brothers and sisters."

The urgency for financial education is growing as residents in Gallup and surrounding communities face rising inflation and greater economic challenges. Gallup lies in the heart of Native American ancestral homelands. With the Navajo Nation at their doorstep, Zuni Pueblo to the South, and the Hopi Reservation nearby, Gallup is often referred to as "the gateway to the Native American experience."

According to the HOPE Financial Wellness Index, the average credit score in Gallup is 646 compared to the US average of 698. Additional data from the HOPE Research and Impact Institute (HRII), which measures and monitors the performance of Operation HOPE's programming, reveals that HOPE Inside clients experience:

• +41 pts ? Average increase in credit score
• -$1,892 ? Median reduction of debt
• +$1,116 ? Median increase in savings

As part of its Banking Inclusion initiative, Wells Fargo plans to launch a total of 50 HOPE Inside centers serving over 150 branches in low- to moderate-income neighborhoods across the nation with a focus on increasing access to financial education by the end of 2026. Visit operationhope.org to learn more about HOPE Inside locations and services.

About Operation HOPE, Inc.

Since 1992, Operation HOPE has been moving America from civil rights to "Silver Rights" with the mission of making free enterprise and capitalism work for the underserved?disrupting poverty for millions of low and moderate-income youth and adults across the nation. Through its award-winning community uplift model, HOPE Inside, which received the Innovator of the Year recognition by American Banker magazine, Operation HOPE has served more than 4 million individuals and directed more than $4 billion in economic activity into disenfranchised communities?turning check-cashing customers into banking customers, renters into homeowners, small business dreamers into small business owners, minimum wage workers into living wage consumers, and uncertain disaster victims into financially empowered disaster survivors. Operation HOPE recently received Fast Company's World Changing Ideas Award for driving entrepreneurship as well as its tenth consecutive 4-star charity rating for fiscal management and commitment to transparency and accountability from the prestigious non-profit evaluator, Charity Navigator. Operation HOPE also recently launched The 1865 Project, an initiative designed to help level the economic playing field for underserved Americans.

For more information: OperationHOPE.org. Join the HOPE conversation on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.

Contact Information:
Lalohni Campbell, for Operation HOPE
[email protected]

Aryel Bell, Wells Fargo
[email protected]

SOURCE Operation HOPE, Inc.