Special Report: Banking on Justice
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With the approval of a $39,000 mortgage last year, Katie Alexander finally owns a home on the street named after her father. Photo by James Trimarco.
In the poorest region of the nation's poorest state, a tiny government program keeps money flowing through mom-and-pop financial institutions—changing lives.
This is a story of extremes. Some of the smallest banks in the nation—with the help of a little-known government program—are changing lives in one of the most impoverished places, the Mississippi Delta. The Delta’s financial ecosystem is unique, with bankers and residents coming to see one another as allies despite a turbulent history. It’s a glimpse of the social change that can happen when economic empowerment becomes a tool to fight poverty.
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