The Sustainable Finance Podcast: Start in the Deep South to address social and economic inequity

Courtney Thomas, senior policy analyst at Hope Policy Institute,  joined The Sustainable Finance Podcast to discuss her advocacy for social and economic justice in the Deep South. Focused on advancing equitable public policies, her work supports economic opportunities for marginalized communities, including fair lending, housing and transportation equity, as well as state and federal resource allocation for communities of color.

Thomas first elaborates on Hope’s unique role in advancing sustainable financing and bolstering community growth in the Deep South.

“We are a credit union, a loan fund, and a policy institute. Together, we’re a family of community development organizations focused on strengthening communities, building assets, and improving lives in economically distressed areas in the Deep South.”

Thomas stesses that to address social and economic inequities, we need to start with the South, where the historical impacts of discriminatory policies have “inhibited families from being economically mobile for generations.”

“It’s a region where over 20% of the population has lived in poverty for the last three generations,” and where “over half of Black America lives and works. . . . 22% of unbanked and underbanked households are in the Deep South,” she explains, “but when you think of non-white households, that number actually increases to 41%.”

Highlighting Hope’s policy efforts, Thomas details their strategic initiatives to bridge racial disparities in homeownership and economic mobility. 

“Our advocacy centers around four major areas. The first is eradicating the Black-white homeownership gap (29%). . . . We focus on increasing the availability of down payment assistance and interest rate buydown products, creating a sustainable and equitable secondary market for Hope’s affordable housing program.”

Thomas explains how Hope leverages a mix of funding to support climate resilience and other community-focused projects.

“We utilize federal resources and state resources as well as philanthropic dollars to aid the communities that we serve. Most recently, we were able to win resources from the Environmental Protection Agency to support climate resiliency in the Deep South. . . . We found that low-income Mississippi households spend 8% of their income on energy costs . . . with these types of programs and projects, putting on solar panels or solar shingles on your house, you’ll be able to reduce the cost of your electricity bill.”

For industry professionals seeking to improve sustainable financing in underserved areas, Thomas offers clear guidance, including protection against predatory lending, particularly in the Deep South, where states can charge as high as 500% for payday loans.

“We need to have community investment that includes having a strong Community Reinvestment Act to ensure that banks are investing critical resources. . . . We need to have strong regulations around consumer protection. We need to invest in CDFIs with a strong track record of lending to underserved communities, because CDFIs are more likely to lend to underserved borrowers and they’re also more effective.”

Thomas shares a successful example of Hope’s direct impact, detailing its support for a New Orleans nonprofit focused on housing for the homeless.

“Hope was able to provide them with a $150,000 construction loan to help them with their services. They went to local banks, but they were turned down multiple times because they were a fairly new organization and no one wanted to take a chance with them, but Hope did.”

For more insights about Hope’s advocacy programs, watch the full interview on The Sustainable Finance Podcast.

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