CHICAGO — The Woodstock Institute, an occasional critic of how well credit unions are serving low-income members has released the first case study from a program which aims to help CUs improve in that area.
The Building Community Assets program seeks to help pair credit unions with community groups in underserved areas. In this instance, the group is the Fresno West Coalition for Economic Development (FWCED) and the credit union is the $414 million Fresno County Federal Credit Union (FCFCU).
After hitting a roadblock in creating a partnership with a credit union, FWCED sought the technical assistance of the Woodstock Institute, which proved to be vital for facilitating a relationship between FWCED and FCFCU, the Institute reported.
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The goals of the partnership were to increase credit union membership among Fresno West residents, provide better access to credit union services by locating an ATM in the area, and offer financial services tailored to the community such as affordable home mortgages and small business loans.
Additionally, the credit union would assist the association in providing financial education services, including sessions on basic personal financial management, first-time homeownership, small business development, and awareness campaigns about predatory loan alternatives. With assistance from the Woodstock Institute over the past year, bylaws for the new Fresno West Association were written and adopted, which began the process of establishing the associational field of membership between the Fresno West Coalition and the Fresno County Federal Credit Union.
As of July 26, 2006, the Fresno West Association had 275 members. The association has experienced great success in getting their members to join the credit union with 50 members having joined and opened accounts with FCFCU.
The credit union has also conducted two three-hour home ownership workshops, which were attended by over 60 community members, at a local community and set up booths at FWCED's EITC tax assistance sites, and it worked with the Fresno West Association to develop a full financial workshop package.
The credit union designated a staff member to work with the financially underserved, and has been actively organizing and leading additional financial workshops as part of the Fresno West Association's programming. Additionally, FCFCU has proven a solid partner for FWCED as they have participated in every one of their monthly First Time Homebuyer workshops since June 2005.
The classes have averaged 25 individuals and FCFCU will be one of the lead organizations in their new Homeowners Institute that will provide in-depth assistance towards purchasing a home, credit counseling and repair, money management, the purchase process, etc.
The effort has also drawn media coverage. An article in the Fresno Business Journal discussing predatory lending featured a discussion about the partnership.
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