Cost of Hope

The funding from Elevate Prize would be used to give small grants help families in need. Our non-profit Cost of Hope, Inc. would use grants to pay non-recurring fees that individuals cannot cover due to an inability to pay because of financial hardship. For example, school fees, municipal cost, car repairs, specific fines, fees or assessments. There is a segment of society that lives below the poverty line and paying these unexpected expenditures would fall outside of their budget drastically impacting their day-to-day lives.

I am an African-American who grew up in the inner city of Detroit. I lived around poverty but I had an advantage, I had both of my parents financial support. Even after, having 2 children before the age of 21. I was still able to finish college and earn a Master's in Business. Another advantage, was that whenever I fell short of funds my family was always there to offer support. 
What prompted me to start this non-profit was that I heard a story of a father who went to court, had a $200 fine, could not pay, so he had to do 20 days in jail,  given the credit of $10 a day and because of his inability to pay, he lost his job .  After doing research, I found far too many similar stories. This gentlemen life was impacted for a mere $200. 

We are in the richest country in the world and we should be able to offer help to those in need. There are current fees that target poor Americans. Our non-profit Cost of Hope, Inc. would like to bring awareness to these practices and help relieve families at the same time.  

The problem Cost of Hope, Inc is solving is we are offering some hope to the impoverished. According to Census.gov in 2019, 34 million Americans lived in poverty. One small set back could cripple a family and possible lead to homelessness. We will not pay bills that come up every month but it is the unexpected bills that impact families. Research from the Federal Reserve found that 4 in 10 Americans couldn’t afford a $400 emergency, and 22% say they expect to forgo payments on some of their bills. This is heartbreaking. 

This is how Cost of Hope, Inc works. The person needing assistance would contact COH, Inc. for assistance. If they meet necessary criteria, COH, Inc. will cover the fee by paying it directly to the entity requesting the fee. A qualified individual would be determined by need and falling within the federal poverty guidelines. COH,Inc. would pay a maximum of $250 per year for a family. 

Our approach is unique because if someone has any unexpected fee, the only option is payday advance loans which are a rip off. Urban communities are inundated within this predatory lending practices. We want to offer some hope to the solution with a small assistance grant. 

Our non-profit will shed light on the municipalities or institutions that prey on low-income individuals in the hopes of meeting their budgets by frivolous fees. There are currently no help for individuals without collateral. Our hope is to bring awareness to these two issues. 

While we are processing their application, the applicant would partake in a short basic seminar on financial literacy. So our hope is to not only assist but to educate. 

Our planned impact is bring awareness to unfair practices of criminalizing poverty. Municipalities tend to put excessive fees on families living in impoverished areas. The key piece of encountering families is to teach them about financial literacy. According to, FinancialEducatorsCouncil.org, "Financial literacy statistics demonstrate that a majority of individuals do not possess the financial expertise needed to make healthy financial choices that will benefit them in the long run. These facts send a clear message to those in charge of public policy and those with the desire to better their communities: the financial illiteracy epidemic must be addressed." In fact, a  Standard & Poor's survey ranked the U.S. No. 14 globally in terms of its citizens' financial literacy and rated just 57% of U.S. adults financially literate. Our goal is to educate because knowledge on budgets, how payday loans work, how to proper credit cards will stop the cycle of poverty, forever.