ALEXANDRIA, Va.-Nicholas Owens, NCUA Chairman Dennis Dollar's special assistant for public affairs, was slated to participate in a White House Conference on Faith-Based and Community Initiatives. The conference, set for Friday, Dec. 5 in Tampa, Fla., included representatives from the office of Florida Governor Jeb Bush, and the U.S. Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, and Housing and Urban Development. "Faith-based credit unions across the country continue to make significant contributions toward helping families gain financial self-sufficiency," Dollar said in announcing the appearance. "We are pleased with the growing interest expressed by leaders of the faith community on the role that credit unions can play in providing economic empowerment for those they serve." Owens explained how that agency has made chartering and expanding faith-based credit unions a priority at NCUA under the agency's Access Across America initiative. There are currently 27 credit unions serving faith-based organizations in Florida and 470 federal faith-based credit unions nationally. The administration has scheduled this series of free conferences to help faith-based and community organizations learn more about President George W. Bush's initiative, as well as programs that are suited to their needs, the federal funding process, and the legal process to apply for federal funds.