SunTrust Banks, Inc. (NYSE: STI), a pioneer in offering HOPE Inside in its branches, announced today plans to expand the HOPE Inside program to Atlanta Public Schools (APS) teachers and employees. HOPE Inside is an award-winning financial empowerment model provided by global for-purpose organization Operation HOPE. This sponsorship is part of the company’s onUp movement to advance financial confidence across America.
Traditionally, HOPE Inside installs Operation HOPE financial well-being coaches in bank branches, government offices, grocery stores, and other community locations to provide financial dignity counseling, including credit and money management, homeownership preparedness and small business development programs, all offered at no cost to the client. HOPE Inside the Workplace is a segment of the HOPE Inside model that is offered as an employee wellness benefit at organizations.
Through this new partnership with APS, an Operation HOPE financial well-being coach will have an office on site at the District’s central office, the Center for Learning and Leadership (CLL) Building, located at 130 Trinity Avenue, SW, in downtown Atlanta. The financial well-being coach will be available to meet with APS employees every day of the week – either in the office at the CLL, or at the employee’s work site.
SunTrust currently sponsors financial well-being coaches in 17 HOPE Inside branch locations throughout Georgia, Florida, Tennessee, North Carolina, Alabama, Maryland, and the District of Columbia. The APS partnership will now bring this programming to more than 5,000 teachers and employees, who serve students across Atlanta.
The HOPE Inside network now stands at 100 locations across the country, with more than 450 new locations scheduled to open within the next 18 months. This is tied to the goal of 1,000 operational locations by 2020. Locally, HOPE Inside the Workplace is currently offered to employees of the Atlanta Police Department, also through sponsorship by SunTrust, and Hyatt Hotels.
“Throughout our more than five year partnership with Operation HOPE, we have helped nearly 18,000 clients move from financial stress to confidence,” said Jenna Kelly, SunTrust Georgia Division CEO. “Our purpose of Lighting the Way to Financial Well-Being across America aligns well with Operation HOPE’s mission of financial empowerment. SunTrust looks forward to continuing our shared commitment through this natural extension with Atlanta Public Schools.”
“This commitment by SunTrust, our valued strategic partner, will contribute to the financial wellness of thousands of our local teachers and administrators,” said John Hope Bryant, founder, chairman and CEO of Operation HOPE. “Personal financial stress is the most common cause of stress in the workplace—we are grateful for the partnership, and commend Atlanta Public Schools leadership for taking this step to empower employees.”
“We are grateful to Operation HOPE and SunTrust for bringing the HOPE Inside program to Atlanta Public Schools (APS),” said Dr. Meria J. Carstarphen, Superintendent of Atlanta Public Schools. “Having this program at APS means that our employees have access to professional financial counselors who can provide them with sound economic advice. HOPE Inside is an empowering program for our staff, and we are so excited to be part of it.”
About SunTrust Banks, Inc.
SunTrust Banks, Inc. (NYSE: STI) is a purpose-driven company dedicated to Lighting the Way to Financial Well-Being for the people, businesses, and communities it serves. Headquartered in Atlanta, the Company has two business segments: Consumer and Wholesale. Its flagship subsidiary, SunTrust Bank, operates an extensive branch and ATM network throughout the high-growth Southeast and Mid-Atlantic states, along with 24-hour digital access. Certain business lines serve consumer, commercial, corporate, and institutional clients nationally. As of December 31, 2017, SunTrust had total assets of $206 billion and total deposits of $161 billion. The Company provides deposit, credit, trust, investment, mortgage, asset management, securities brokerage, and capital market services. SunTrust leads onUp, a national movement inspiring Americans to build financial confidence. Join the movement at onUp.com.
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 families across the nation. Through our community uplift model, HOPE Inside, which received the 2016 Innovator of the Year recognition by American Banker magazine, Operation HOPE has served more than 2.8 million individuals and directed more than $2.7 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. Project 5117 is our multi-year four-pronged approach to combating economic inequality that aims to improve financial literacy, increase business role models and business internships for youth in underserved communities, and stabilize the American dream by boosting FICO scores. Operation HOPE recently received its third consecutive 4-star charity rating for fiscal management and commitment to transparency and accountability by the prestigious non-profit evaluator, Charity Navigator. For more information: www.OperationHOPE.org. Follow Operation HOPE on Twitter and Facebook @operationhope
About Atlanta Public Schools
Atlanta Public Schools is one of the largest school districts in the state of Georgia, serving approximately 52,000 students. The district is organized into nine K-12 clusters with 89 schools and programs. For more information, visit www.atlantapublicschools.us, follow us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/AtlantaPublicSchools/ and on Twitter @apsupdate.
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For further information: SunTrust Contact: Thomas Crosson (470) 218-9178 thomas.crosson@suntrust.com, Operation HOPE Contact: Caryn Anderson (404) 660-0573 caryn.anderson@operationhope.org, Atlanta Public Schools Contact: Ian Smith (404) 802-2855 ian.smith@atlanta.k12.ga.us
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