WASHINGTON – Community Development Credit Unions are among the fastest growing segments of socially responsible investing and grew their assets by 749% in the six years between 1999 and 2005, according to a report prepared by the Community Investing Program, a project partially sponsored by CO-OP America. The Community Investment Trends Report seeks to provide an overview of the social investment landscape and also reported on community development banks as well as community development loan funds and community development venture capital funds. Greg Gemerer, a researcher for the National Federation of Community Development Credit Unions, endorsed the asset figure, but added that the percentage of growth CDCUs have seen might have been overestimated in the report. The problem is that the program used Federation data for its 1999 and 2003 data, which then tracked only Federation members, but used data from other CDCUs as well for the 2005 data. Gemerer stressed that there has been growth in CDCUs, but perhaps not the 794% that the program reported. The report also highlighted the efforts of the $38 million Hope Community Credit Union, headquartered in Jackson, Mississippi, in helping to restore and rebuild Gulf Coast homes shattered in the 2005 hurricane season.