ARLINGTON, Va. – The American Express Foundation has granted the National Federation of Community Development Credit Unions (NFCDCU) $30,000 to train staff and volunteers from community development credit unions (CDCUs) in financial literacy. The volunteers will in turn train CDCU members in classroom settings on how to manage their limited incomes, avoid high-cost predatory lenders, improve credit scores and set savings goals, the Federation said. The grant is part of the Foundation's American Express Economic Independence Fund program which disbursed $500,000 to 18 grantees this year. "We deeply appreciate receiving an Economic Independence grant from American Express," said Federation executive director Cliff Rosenthal. "Community development credit unions are at the forefront in the battle for economic opportunity for low-income families and individuals," he said. "Financial literacy training helps people to take control of their economic future – to build and protect their hard earned assets." "Our goal is to help support community organizations across the country who are working hard to help vulnerable individuals learn what it takes to achieve financial stability and economic independence," said American Express Financial Advisors group vice president Tom Nicolosi. "We've heard from many of our legislative leaders that financial illiteracy in America is reaching crisis levels."