The Columbia Bank Partners with Operation HOPE to Deliver Financial Empowerment to Baltimore

On September 13, The Columbia Bank and Operation HOPE hosted a block party to celebrate the grand opening of HOPE Inside, at The Columbia Bank, which will deliver financial empowerment to residents of Baltimore and communities in the surrounding area. HOPE Inside, at The Columbia Bank, is the 100th HOPE Inside location to open in Operation HOPE’s national network.

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On Sept. 13, The Columbia Bank and Operation HOPE celebrated the grand opening of HOPE Inside, at The Columbia Bank - the 100th HOPE Inside location to open in Operation HOPE's national network. The event was held at the Center for Urban Families in Baltimore. Pictured (from left) are Jim Smith, chief of strategic alliances for Mayor Catherine Pugh; E. Phillip Wenger, chairman, president and CEO of Fulton Financial Corporation, the parent company of The Columbia Bank; John Hope Bryant, founder, chairman and CEO of Operation HOPE; Stephanie Davis, financial wellbeing coach for HOPE Inside, at The Columbia Bank; William "Smokey" Glover, director of Fair and Responsible Banking for Fulton Financial Corporation. (Photo: Business Wire)

“The Columbia Bank and Operation HOPE are on a mission to provide life-changing financial literacy and credit-counseling services to Baltimore and nearby communities,” said Phil Wenger, chairman, president and CEO of Fulton Financial Corporation (Nasdaq: FULT), the parent company of The Columbia Bank. “Through HOPE Inside, at The Columbia Bank, we’ll reach out to people in underserved communities to promote homeownership, entrepreneurship and proven money management practices. The HOPE Inside program is about educating and empowering people to achieve their financial goals, and we are so proud to be the 100th location for this outstanding program.”

HOPE Inside, at The Columbia Bank, was made possible by a partnership between Fulton Financial Corporation and Operation HOPE. The partnership is part of the company’s Fulton ForwardTM initiative, which helps to advance underserved communities by promoting affordable housing, financial literacy and education, and economic development in low- to moderate-income communities.

“The programming offered at this new HOPE Inside location will provide people in the Baltimore area with the financial tools required to take their lives back and create a more secure future,” said John Hope Bryant, founder, chairman and CEO of Operation HOPE. “We are grateful for the support and partnership from The Columbia Bank and Fulton Financial Corporation to open this new installation of our award-winning model of community uplift. One-hundred locations is just the beginning, as we look to a future of spreading ‘silver rights’ across the nation.”

HOPE Inside is a unique empowerment model that brings Operation HOPE’s financial dignity programming to low- and middle-income individuals and families at no cost to the client. Through the HOPE Inside program, an Operation HOPE financial wellbeing coach will support clients with the fundamentals to build their own businesses, raise their credit scores, buy homes, or simply make better decisions with the money they have. This marks the opening of the organization’s 100th location, and there are commitments for more than 400 new offices within the next 24 months.

Along with the HOPE Inside program, The Columbia Bank also is partnering with Operation HOPE to administer its Closing Cost Assistance Program, which offers eligible homebuyers up to $2,500 toward closing costs.

For more information about The Columbia Bank, visit www.thecolumbiabank.com. To reach HOPE Inside, at The Columbia Bank, call 410-340-3743. Information about Operation HOPE can be found at www.OperationHOPE.org.

The Columbia Bank, Member FDIC. Equal Housing Lender. Subject to credit approval. Closing cost assistance program is administered by Operation HOPE, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, in collaboration with Fulton Mortgage Company. Any financial assistance received from Operation HOPE may qualify for Federal income tax purposes as a nontaxable gift. Please refer to IRS Publication 525 for further guidance. Fulton Mortgage Company, The Columbia Bank, and other subsidiaries of Fulton Financial Corporation are not affiliated with Operation HOPE.

About The Columbia Bank

The Columbia Bank is one of six subsidiary banks of Fulton Financial Corporation, a $19.3 billion financial holding company headquartered in Lancaster, PA. The Columbia Bank operates more than 30 offices throughout Maryland. The Fulton ForwardTM at The Columbia Bank initiative promotes affordable housing, financial literacy and education, and economic development in low- to moderate-income communities. For more information: www.thecolumbiabank.com.

About Operation HOPE

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. Through its core programs, the nonprofit has provided financial dignity and economic empowerment to over 2.8 million individuals worldwide, and $2.4 billion in economic activity for the disenfranchised—turning check cashing customers into banking customers, renters into homeowners, small business dreamers into small business owners and minimum wage workers into living wage consumers. 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—further establishing it as a best-in-class organization. For more information: www.OperationHOPE.org. Follow Operation HOPE on Twitter @operationhope.

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