ATLANTA – Although several alliances have been formed, the African-American Credit Union Coalition feels more outreach is needed to credit unions who may need assistance in a number of areas to thwart liquidation or forced mergers. The AACUC's mentorship program's mission of partnering credit unions with "larger, successful" ones starts with a plan of action that targets issues such as delinquency control, having a marketing plan and/or a business strategy plan, offering group training, troubleshooting and deploying "employees on loan," according to Tony Black, chairperson, AACUC mentorship committee. "The AACUC board of directors and the mentorship committee designed this valuable service to assist fledgling credit unions to gain resources, expertise and support during critical times when (they) can at least afford to pay the costs to obtain the help," Black said. Through the AACUC, mentor partnerships have been formed between Andrews Federal Credit Union and 1st Combined Community Credit Union; Southern Parents and Teachers FCU and Iberville FCU; Shreveport FCU and the Federation of Southern Cooperative, which serves more than 20 credit unions; and 1st Entertainment CU and Enterprise Communication FCU, among others. The National Federation of Community Development Credit Unions (NFCDCU) received $80,000 in scholarships designated for low income and small community development credit unions (CDCUs). Two of these scholarships have been earmarked for AACUC members, according to Keith Bonds, director of NFCDCU's member services department. The AACUC said it has also redirected its focus to include establishing annual scholarships for CDCUs to attend educational sessions including a new alliance with CUNA's Professional Development Dept.; three-year scholarships to CUNA's schools; one scholarship to CUNA Mutual's Discovery Conference and a scholarship to CUES's CEO Institute, which while new, still needs a larger pool of applicants to choose from, said Helen Godfrey, AACUC Chairwoman. At the AACUC meeting, nearly two dozen attendees sat in on the mentorship committee breakout session. The group is planning to meet via a conference call in mid-September. [email protected]