| Credit Unions Seek Payday Loan Consumers
NCUF innovation grantee North Side Community Federal Credit Union in Chicago was featured on Morning Edition of National Public Radio (NPR).
In her story, NPR news reporter, Cheryl Corley said that payday lenders welcomed the competition, but added credit unions are offering small loans at margins that will make them unsustainable, more of a community service than profitable.
Ed Jacob, North Side Community FCU's director said credit unions have to see a bigger picture. "The way I've got to view this is I'm going to help this person right now, and then we're going to help this person on a better path to a better financial future. And in two years, maybe they need an auto loan. And in four years, maybe they need a mortgage loan."
Read or Listen to the whole NPR story. |
The National Credit Union Foundation's grant successess are countless, but the following are a few highlights from the past year. |
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Three NCUF Grantees gave presentations at the NCUF breakout session at the 2006 CUNA Governmental Affairs Conference (GAC). You can view their multimedia presentations by clicking the following links:
Rich Jones, U of C FCU
Joanne Fillwock, Financial Health CU
Ed Jacob, North Side Community FCU
These are Microsoft Producer files, which are videos that should play automatically in your Internet Explorer browser - each presentation will allow you to view the presenter and their powerpoint simultaneously.
Watch North Side's video that tells the story of a payday lending victim who then became a financially literate credit union member with their help:
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Latino Community Credit Union, Durham, North Carolina
For immigrants looking to live the American dream, NCUF supported a full-scale mortgage program at Latino Community Credit Union. NCUF’s grant helped staff all branches with fully-trained mortgage officers, provide bilingual materials, and approve and close mortgages for first-time homebuyers.
Bear Paw Credit Union, Havre, Montana
On the desperately underserved Fort Belknap Indian Reservation, NCUF funding enabled Bear Paw Credit Union to place the first ATM serving tribal members and establish the only financial institution office on the reservation.
Prospera Credit Union, Appleton, Wisconsin
Here’s a new way to reach people of modest means: NCUF funded this first credit union branch in a Goodwill store. Prospera Credit Union’s partnership with Goodwill Industries
of Northeast Wisconsin could serve as a model for other credit unions to place branches in their local Goodwill outlets.
Affordable Housing CUSO, El Paso, Texas
Despite trying to buy a home for many years, Veronica Venegas could never move out of public housing – until the NCUF-funded Affordable Housing CUSO entered the picture. The credit union service organization identified four public and private homeownership programs focused on low income families and people with disabilities. Then the CUSO layered all the programs on top of each other to build a creative financial assistance package for this wheelchair-accessible home.
Syracuse Cooperative Federal Credit Union, Syracuse, New York
What do 14-year-old high school freshmen have in common with the 20-year-old working mothers at Syracuse Cooperative Federal Credit Union’s Life Skills course? They all want to move out of their parents’ house someday. With help from the credit union and a program funded by NCUF, they now have the skills to take charge of their own financial future.
CU Housing Partners, Tampa, Florida
NCUF grantees are proving that the more partners you bring to a project, the more dreams you can fulfill. Partnering with the US Department of Agriculture, the Florida Home Partnership, and a county-wide rural development agency, CU Housing Partners helped build an entire subdivision for lowincome families. Residents used “sweat equity” to keep the homes affordable.Now children take part in an annual tree-planting ceremony to symbolize their hope for the future.
From NCUF's 2005-2006 Annual Report, available here
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Watch an excerpt from NCUF's 2005 DVD below, which highlights three Foundation funded programs:
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