NCUF Awards Four New Grants in July

August 1, 2001

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Tom Dunn
(608) 231-4002
tdunn@cuna.com

MADISON, WI -- The National Credit Union Foundation recently approved four new grants for 2001. The approved amount totaled over $45,000.

The first grant, in the amount of $18,000, was awarded to the Northcountry Cooperative Development Fund (NCDE) in support of their efforts to organize a unique community development credit union. Once organized, the credit union will be dedicated to providing financial services to diverse cooperatives located throughout Minnesota, with special emphasis on cutting edge lending to affordable cooperative housing projects.

"Working directly with the cooperative sector is new for us," says Bill Crawley, director of Programs and Grants for the National Credit Union Foundation. "The fact that a credit union - a financial cooperative - is being chartered specifically to support other cooperatives is very exciting."

The second grant, in the amount of $15,000, was awarded to the Consumer Federation of America to support a study of the savings behavior among low-to moderate-income Americans. The study will be released by early 2002 and will highlight the value proposition of utilizing credit unions as vehicles to enhance savings among low- to moderate-income Americans.

The study will analyze the savings habits of over 3,000 low- and moderate-income Americans and focus on credit unions’ unique capacity to encourage low- and moderate- income Americans to save. It will be released at a jointly held press conference featuring representatives from the NCUF, CUNA and CFA.

The third grant, in the amount of $5,000, is for the Neighborhood Trust FCU, a Harlem-based community development credit union with $5.5 million in assets and 3,300 members. It provides financial services to Upper Manhattan's thriving Latino population through its Washington Heights branch and, most recently, to Central Harlem's largely African American population through its West Harlem branch.

Grant dollars will be used to expand services at the newly minted West Harlem branch. The West Harlem branch is that community’s only community development credit union.

The fourth grant, in the amount of $10,000, is for the World Council of Credit Unions to support the work of the Savings and Credit Co-operative League of South Africa (SACCOL). Funds will be used to support SACCOL’s membership development campaign to increase credit union membership among South Africans and the implementation of the PEARLS financial diagnostic system for South African credit unions.

"I'm particularly gratified that we are funding four such distinct approaches to credit union development," says Mary Cunningham, Chair of the NCUF Grants Committee. "Each, in its own way, supports the Foundation's mission to promote consumer financial independence through credit unions."

For more information on the NCUF grant programs, contact Bill Crawley at (800) 356-9655, ext. 7022 or visit http://www.ncuf.coop.

Established in 1980, NCUF is the U.S. credit union movement’s primary charitable and fundraising organization for worldwide credit union development. The foundation has given more than $8.4 million in grants, including $5 million to international development, $1.6 million for domestic credit union development, $2 million for disaster relief at home and abroad, national model programs and scholarships. Visit the Foundation’s web site at http://www.ncuf.coop.

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