Operation HOPE Announces Formation of Project Restore HOPE Los Angeles

5-Year Initiative Aimed at Addressing Immediate and Long-Term Needs for Individuals, Small Businesses and Communities Impacted by Recent LA-Area Wildfires

ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Operation HOPE, a national nonprofit dedicated to helping low- and moderate-income Americans thrive in an ever-changing economy, announced today the formation of Project Restore HOPE Los Angeles, the second phase of the organization’s relief, recovery, and rebuilding effort in Los Angeles following the recent devastating wildfires in the area.

Led by Co-Chairs John Hope Bryant (Operation HOPE Founder, Chairman and CEO), Lance Triggs (Operation HOPE EVP and President of HOPE Programs), and Brad Johnson (acclaimed hospitality executive and 30-year Los Angeles resident) as well as committee members including leaders from the public and private sectors, professional athletes and entertainers, Project Restore HOPE Los Angeles is a five-year initiative aimed at addressing the immediate and long-term needs of individuals, small businesses and communities impacted by the recent wildfires. Through Operation HOPE’s partnership offices with Bank of America, Wells Fargo, US Bank, Cathay Bank and Delta Airlines, the initiative already has more than 50 HOPE Inside Disaster offices in place in Los Angeles along with 1,000 HOPE Corps volunteers who stand ready to serve the residents and businesses with disaster and recovery services including:

• FEMA Applications and Appeals
• Small Business Recovery / SBA Loan
• Obtaining Copies of Destroyed Documents
• Insurance Claims Assistance and Appeals
• Managing Mortgage Payments on Damaged Home
• Payment Deferment Assistance Negotiating and Working with Your Creditors
• Financial Counseling
• Disaster Recovery Budget
• Home Inspections and Repair Contracts
• Foreclosure Prevention

A key part of Project Restore HOPE Los Angeles’ efforts will include a mobilization of support from the city’s hospitality industry. Mr. Johnson and Eater LA Editor and Altadena-native Mona Holmes will be leading the effort to establish a headquarters office in Altadena, where many working-class families and businesses were particularly impacted. The office is expected to include a complimentary meal service for community members facilitated by John Cleveland, renowned chef and owner of Post & Beam restaurant, along with guidance from Operation HOPE volunteers who can help residents, workers and business owners with the complex application processes for federal relief and insurance claims as well as provide longer-term financial coaching and support services. Details on the headquarters office will be available at Operation HOPE’s website.

“This 5-year commitment to help rebuild, restore and strengthen impacted communities in Los Angeles is a reflection of Operation HOPE’s longstanding ties to the community that date back to our founding as a response to the civil unrest following the Rodney King verdict over 30 years ago. In partnering with Brad Johnson, Mona Holmes, John Cleveland and so many other highly-regarded and respected leaders in the community, Project Restore HOPE Los Angeles seeks to bring critical on-the-ground financial relief and recovery services to the areas and people most in need so that middle- and working-class families and business owners have the tools and resources to come out of this devastating experience stronger and more resilient than ever,” said Mr. Bryant.

For more information and assistance, affected individuals are encouraged to contact Operation HOPE Inside Disaster, powered by HOPE Coalition America (HCA).

For organizations interested in partnering with Project Restore HOPE Los Angeles, please contact Lance Triggs at [e-mail].

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 community uplift model, HOPE Inside, which received the 2016 Innovator of the Year recognition by American Banker magazine, Operation HOPE has served more than 4 million individuals and directed more than $3.2 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. For more information: OperationHOPE.org. Follow the HOPE conversation on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or LinkedIn.