DURHAM, N.C. - Duke University has committed to deposit up to $5 million in the Latino Community Credit Union over the next five years, the CU announced on June 6.
The investment will guarantee affordable financial services for low-income individuals in Durham who find it difficult to obtain loans and mortgages through conventional lending sources because they lack credit history, the CU said.
The money will be deposited in million-dollar increments and could provide funding for as much as 50 mortgages, or about 200 people. LCCU will dedicate the funds for low-income consumer and mortgage lending in Durham County, which is home to more than half of Duke's work force. "We are pleased that Duke University has deepened its long-standing commitment to LCCU and strengthening our communities," says Alison Beck Yonas, director of financial management at the credit union and a Duke University alumna. "We see this substantial deposit-the largest the LCCU has received-as a catalyst for continued growth of the credit union, and increasing our ability to provide additional affordable financial services to those most in need."
LCCU claims to be one of the fastest-growing credit unions in the country. In just six years of operation, LCCU has made more than 7,800 consumer loans for $32.4 million. Three-quarters of LCCU borrowers have no credit history when they first receive a loan from the credit union, and an average of 750 members create their first credit history each year through its credit-builder and other secured loans. Members currently have $25 million in total savings. LCCU recently launched secured and unsecured credit cards, and continues to develop plans for providing Internet banking. Since its creation in 2000, with the support of credit union leaders like State Employees Credit Union of N.C., Self-Help Credit Union and the Minority Support Center, the credit union has grown from $10 million to $34 million in assets, serving more than 45,000 members with five branches across North Carolina, the CU said.
"I am delighted with the success and remarkable growth of the Latino Community Credit Union, which is providing important financial services to this rapidly growing segment of the Latino community in Durham and the rest of North Carolina," said Duke University President Richard H. Brodhead. "I am proud of Duke's participation in launching this important enterprise and am very pleased that we can provide this additional support to ensure that Latinos in Durham can enjoy the many benefits of home ownership."
Duke University became one of the credit union's first and largest supporters with an initial deposit of $400,000. Duke has helped to leverage other institutional investors, paving the way for the credit union to develop its homeownership program for new Americans, and enabling LCCU to become a nationally recognized model for encouraging new immigrants to trust and use banks.
Latino acknowledged that part of the reason it has grown so much is that it has had fertile soil in which to flourish. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, North Carolina's Hispanic population is one of the fastest growing in the United States totaling 600,913, or 7% of the state's total population, in 2004. [email protected]
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