Operation HOPE is proud to announce a new HOPE Inside location in partnership with Empower and Stand Together, bringing no-cost financial coaching and economic empowerment services directly into Wichita’s North End community in Wichita, Kansas.
Across the country, millions of households remain locked out of mainstream financial services and lack access to the trusted, one-on-one coaching that could help them build credit, manage debt, and plan for the future. Too often, the people who stand to benefit most from financial guidance are the least likely to have someone in their corner they can turn to. HOPE Inside is designed to close that gap.
The partnership pairs complementary strengths. Operation HOPE brings a nationally proven financial coaching model and the infrastructure to deliver it, while Empower and Stand Together bring deep, trusted relationships within the community and the local access that carries those services to the families who need them most. Together, they can offer something none could deliver alone: professional financial coaching inside an organization the community already knows.
Located in the heart of the North End, the site will offer one-on-one financial coaching focused on Credit & Money Management, with Homeownership preparation to follow, delivered by a dedicated financial wellbeing coach embedded in the community, not stationed outside of it. HOPE Inside is a community-based financial coaching program that places trained coaches inside trusted local organizations, offering no-cost, one-on-one guidance to help community members build credit, reduce debt, save money, and prepare for homeownership.
For Empower, a community-based nonprofit rooted in Wichita’s North End and Latino communities, this partnership is a natural extension of the work it has done for years: economic mobility, workforce development, entrepreneurship, and community revitalization, now joined by financial empowerment under the same roof.
“Our roots are in Wichita’s Hispanic and Latino community, and over the years we’ve seen how much of a difference it makes when people have someone they can trust in their corner,” said Erika Patrick, Director of Financial Empowerment at Empower. “This partnership brings even more opportunities for families to improve their financial wellbeing, build credit, work toward homeownership, and create a better future. It’s about giving people the confidence and the tools to reach goals they didn’t think were possible.”
What makes this partnership distinctive is where the coaching happens. Rather than asking families to seek out financial help in unfamiliar places, HOPE Inside brings nationally proven coaching into the organizations where people already turn for support. This makes those services far more accessible, and far more likely to be used. By embedding HOPE Inside within Empower, financial coaching stops being an outside intervention and becomes a trusted resource inside an institution the community already knows. A family can sit down with a coach to raise a credit score, pay down debt, build savings, and map a real path to homeownership, all in a place built to serve them.
“Our partnership with Operation HOPE represents far more than a program; it’s a pathway to dignity, agency, and financial freedom for people who have long been excluded from opportunity,” said Daron Babcock, Managing Director of Community Transformation at Stand Together. “Together, we are proving that when we remove barriers and trust people with the right tools, they can transform their lives and their communities.”
“Economic empowerment has to be rooted in proximity and trust,” said Mary Ehrsam, EVP, President of Partnerships at Operation HOPE. “By partnering with Empower and Stand Together, we’re meeting families where they already are, with coaching that builds credit, strengthens financial confidence, and opens the door to homeownership. That’s how access becomes lasting economic mobility.”
HOPE Inside is designed to help every American reach the American Dream through financial literacy. It removes the barriers that have long kept people out of the financial system, not through temporary relief, but through education, coaching, and long-term relationships. The Wichita launch is the latest step in a growing partnership between Operation HOPE, Empower, and Stand Together to expand financial inclusion across the communities that need it most, embedding coaching and opportunity in the places people already call home.