The National Federation of Community Development Credit Unions and the Center for Financial Services Innovation have awarded $530,000 to three partnerships between credit unions and nonprofit organizations through the Financial Capability Partnership Initiative.
Over the next three years, each partnership will integrate credit union products into social service delivery with the goal of fostering greater financial capability and independence for low-income and underserved consumers, according to CFSI.
The FCPI grantees are:
- Mission SF (with Year Up Bay Area) and the $579 million Self-Help Federal Credit Union in Durham, N.C. – To integrate financial coaching programs and credit union products with award-winning workforce development programs for low-income youth ages 18-24 in San Francisco.
- The Community Builders and the $3.6 million South Side Community Federal Credit Union in Chicago – To engage and support income-earning residents of a Work First Community Housing property with direct financial coaching and access to responsible financial products in Chicago.
- Kingdom House and the $237 million St. Louis Community Credit Union in St. Louis – To further integrate credit union products with social services, focusing on debt reduction, asset building, and youth financial education in St. Louis.
In addition to monetary support, the three selected partnerships will receive in-depth technical assistance from the Federation and CFSI on partnership design and product and service delivery.
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According to CFSI, in phase I of FCPI, the Federation and CFSI delivered tailored technical assistance to 10 select nonprofit-credit union partnerships in seven target cities: Chicago, Cleveland, Durham, N.C., New Orleans, San Antonio, the San Francisco Bay Area, and St. Louis.
A Learning Network will also be established to provide the phase I and phase II partnerships with peer-learning opportunities designed to strengthen their capacity and efficiency in delivering solutions that promote financial capability, CFSI said. Over the course of the pilot period, CFSI and the Federation will also work closely with the grantees to document the experience of the partnerships and the impact of each program.
In addition, a program-related investment from the Kresge Foundation has enabled the Federation to deploy $1.5 million in deposits with participating credit unions in these seven communities. Three partnerships were selected from this group to receive grant funding for phase II of the initiative.
"These partnerships will connect credit union products to the families and individuals who need them most, those who are traditionally hardest to serve," said Cathie Mahon, president/CEO of the Federation. "This kind of innovative work is critical as we promote increased access to safe and affordable products and services in low- and moderate-income communities."
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