Operation HOPE, Inc., the nation’s largest non-profit dedicated to financial empowerment for underserved communities, today announced that its Chairman, Founder and CEO John Hope Bryant joined Wells Fargo CEO Charlie Scharf to host a ribbon-cutting ceremony last Wednesday to celebrate its newly redesigned Stone Mountain Memorial bank branch in Georgia featuring the milestone 200th HOPE Inside location.

The updated Stone Mountain Memorial branch, located in Metro Atlanta’s DeKalb County, includes an award-winning HOPE Inside center staffed by a full-time Operation HOPE financial coach, who will provide community members with no-cost financial education and guidance, such as helping them improve their credit scores or purchase a home. This is the first redesigned Wells Fargo branch in the U.S. to feature HOPE Inside and marks the beginning of the bank’s commitment to introduce HOPE Inside centers and coaches in 20 markets by the end of 2023. The plan, part of Wells Fargo’s Banking Inclusion Initiative, also includes redesigning 100 branches in low- to moderate-income neighborhoods across the nation.

"We are proud to be partnering with Wells Fargo to bring HOPE Inside to the Stone Mountain community. It is fitting that our milestone 200^th HOPE Inside location has been unveiled in partnership with Wells Fargo, which has committed to help remove barriers to financial inclusion for unbanked and underserved communities," said Mr. Bryant. "We look forward to continuing to expand our efforts to support low-income communities and communities of color in achieving financial empowerment, ultimately bringing our proven offerings and coaching skills to 1,000 locations across America in the next couple of years."