Operation HOPE and Top Financial Institutions Deliver 'Hope' with Opening of Financial Education and Banking Center in Harlem, NY.

New center offers credit and money management courses, Internet access, affordable housing information, home and small business loan programs to residents of Harlem and neighboring New York City boroughs

NEW YORK -- Operation HOPE, an international organization dedicated to bringing financial literacy and empowerment programs to low-wealth communities around the world, today announced the opening of the Harlem HOPE Center, a new education and banking center located at 2511 Frederick Douglass Blvd. in Harlem, NY.

The new center offers residents of Harlem, the Bronx and neighboring communities:

-- Banking and money management seminars

-- Credit counseling 

-- Resume building

-- Home and small business loan programs

-- Affordable housing information

-- Access to state-of-the-art "Cyber Cafe" and digital training

-- Emergency financial preparedness workshops

-- Surcharge-free ATM machine 

Backed by E*TRADE FINANCIAL, JPMorgan Chase, Deutsche Bank, Dell, The First American Corporation, First Republic Bank, Carver Federal Savings Bank, United Commercial Bank, GE Money, the New York Bankers Association (NYBA), the U.S. Small Business Administration, the Harlem Chamber of Commerce and the Clinton Foundation, Operation HOPE is leading a new wave of non-profits that are competent, sophisticated, tech savvy, and economically astute when it comes to understanding the needs of the disenfranchised.

"With the support of our partners, we are working to spark a movement that educates urban residents about wealth building and fiscal responsibility - a movement we've coined the 'Silver Rights Movement,'" said John Bryant, founder, Chairman and CEO of Operation HOPE. "Here in New York and across America, there is a major need for better financial education and opportunity. By providing these programs through our HOPE Center Banking Network, we are empowering and enabling more individuals to become financially independent stakeholders in their communities - and to live the American dream."

To date, the New York HOPE Center has served over 2,500 people in the areas of financial literacy, computer and Internet access, counseling and loans. As part of this continued renaissance transforming minority neighborhoods, Operation HOPE remains focused on meeting its three primary objectives:

* Funding $1 billion in low-wealth homeownership, small business ownership and entrepreneurship.

* Educating 5 million low-wealth children, both online and in the classroom, on financial literacy

* Fielding 25,000 HOPE Corps volunteers from the business sector to teach basic money management principles

In his book, Giving: How Each of Us Can Change the World, Former President Bill Clinton discusses the need for financial education and the significance of Operation HOPE's work. Recently, he expressed his support of the eighth HOPE Center to open in the United States:

"Too many hardworking people and families in Harlem and all across America live in the financial margins. I'm confident that this HOPE Center will make "Silver Rights" a reality for many residents in Harlem, and across New York City."

For more information on the Harlem HOPE Center visit www.operationhope.org or call 917-477-2800.

About Operation Hope

Operation HOPE, Inc. (HOPE) is America's leading nonprofit social investment banking and financial literacy empowerment organization. Through several global initiatives and its three principal programs: Banking on Our Future (teaching school children about money), HOPE Coalition America (financial emergency preparedness and disaster relief), and Walk-In HOPE Centers (loans, bill pay, computer literacy, understanding banking principles) Operation HOPE is leading the "silver rights" movement towards making free enterprise and capitalism relevant to all underserved communities.