PORTLAND, Ore.-- Mike Fletcher, VP of Marketing & Business Development at Point West Credit Union here does a drop-dead serious yet somehow funny presentation titled, "Can Money Make You Sick?"
It's an attention getter, for sure, but Fletcher knows that money and financial problems are a leading cause of family stress, and he figures that by educating people about it, he may help prevent some of that.
But that effort is just a slice of the CU's overall work in the community. Placing a growing emphasis on Point West's outreach to the Hispanic Community, the CU was an event sponsor of the second annual Latino Home Initiative Abriendo Puertas ("Unlocking the Doors to Your Dreams") Homebuyer Fair in September. The event was held at the Portland Community College.
Point West and LHI's mission is to close the homeownership gap for Latinos through education, advocacy, and grants, and PWCU sponsored one of the $5,000 down-payment grants to be awarded to an event participant. Via a raffle, 30 candidates for the grants were selected from the 200-plus Latino adults who attended the all-day event. The candidates have an opportunity to win down-payment grants ranging from $5,000 to $10,000 when they purchase a new home.
Since merging with the former Hacienda Community Credit Union and its 2,800 Latino members in March 2005, PWCU has also developed alternatives to check-cashing and payday lending. Its Fresh Start Checking and free financial counseling resource called BALANCE allows CU members to open a checking account without previously established credit or a Social Security number.
--cburger@cutimes.com
