Mississippi Center for Justice and Senior Program Manager Yumekia Jones are fighting back against predatory lending in the Mississippi Delta. Yumekia manages MCJ’s New Roots Credit Partnership, a program that brings employers, community leaders, and financial institutions together to create opportunities for vulnerable Mississippians to engage with financial systems and build wealth.
Yumekia has partnered with Planters Bank in Indianola to bring this alternative to predatory lending to market. As a result of the partnership, Planters Bank has reimagined their small dollar lending products to include CreditUp, a program that builds credit for community members and removes the barriers to accessing credit systems. In order to participate, community members first complete a financial literacy course with MCJ.
Yumekia’s work falls under MCJ’s Economic Justice Campaign, and has deepened relationships with local and state lawmakers, community bank partners, and the community members who attend their financial education events. Although formal policy measures fighting predatory lending in Mississippi are slow to gain traction at the State Capitol, the New Roots Credit Partnership is still advancing policy change and driving awareness of predatory lending impacts on Mississippians.
Yumekia was working on building this program when she joined SEAP’s Policy Entrepreneurs Program (PEP)’s 2024 cohort, an experience that helped her in her policy change work. “PEP gave me strategies to use and sharpened my focus,” Yumekia says. “It gave me a roadmap I could put to use on my way to where I was going, which was to bring New Roots to fruition.”
