The buses that took us through the surrounding neighborhood passed by sights that I wouldn't have believed possible three short years ago when I last visited this area. From our bus windows in the fall of 1993 we saw scores of problems left in the wake of rioting that opened wounds some thought could never be healed. It was a sobering tour, and the challenges before this city and its leaders were obvious and unenviable. On this bus trip through South Central, yes, we still felt the weight of all there is to be done, and, yes, we recognized that we are by no means at the promised land. But we were also able to clap our hands and celebrate the results of your shared commitment to South Central's future.
Hope is indeed here today.
We should take the time to pat ourselves on the back and think about how far we've come in community development. But we must not break our arms in the process. Because we still have hard work to do, and we must now set our sights on the tasks ahead. All of this is necessary to move the community development market fully into the mainstream and help today's new customers establish relationships with their financial services providers that can last a lifetime. That is what makes this new banking center so exciting.