Many credit unions go the extra mile for their members, but only the $4.3 million Lakota Federal Credit Union on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota travels 3,500 miles in a brightly painted bus, offering products and financial education to members.
Before the credit union opened its doors in 2012, there were no federally insured depository institutions on the Pine Ridge Reservation. Now, Lakota has brought financial preparedness and security to more than 2,400 members.
Located on a reservation the size of Connecticut where almost 60% of the residents have little to no access to banks, many of the reservation's residents at first failed to notice the credit union even existed.
At least half of Pine Ridge's people live in poverty, and 21% face unemployment. But residents recently created a plan to leverage more than $5 million dollars in new investments to end the community's cycle of poverty.
In partnership with First Peoples Fund and Lakota Funds, the credit union will offer all of its services one day a week on the bus at various locations throughout the reservation.
"This is a critical step that creates access to financial services where there once were none, and helps our people build brighter financial futures," said Tawney Brunsch, chairman of the board for the Lakota Federal Credit Union, in a statement. "The remoteness of the reservation has always been a barrier, making it difficult for people to do simple things like banking. But now, we are bringing our services to them."
Brunsch said she hopes the the Rolling Rez unit will broaden the Lakota Federal Credit Union's membership base. Although the credit union offers its services to anyone who lives, works, worships, volunteers or attends school on the Pine Ridge Reservation, the majority of its members are located closer to the branch in Kyle, S.D.
Amazingly, 41% of the credit union's members say this is their first bank account. A survey conducted by the credit union last summer revealed that 31% of its members were opening their first savings account, and 13% used a financial product (e.g., direct deposit, online banking, certificate of deposit, loan, etc.) that they had never used before. The credit union is now encouraging members to use these products as tools to achieve their financial goals
"We're super thrilled with how busy we are," Brunsch said, adding that they're working to reach even more people. "Because the reservation is so huge, we have people who have still not heard of us."
Brunsch also serves as the executive director of Lakota Funds, a Native Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) that has provided loans and technical assistance to residents on Pine Ridge for the past 30 years. They currently have 70 active loan clients and $7 million in funds, and have provided almost $1 million in loans this year alone.
"There are countless ways [our outreach] is beneficial," Brunsch said. "It will have a very strong impact on the economy and our situation as being one of the poorest counties. It's not just income level. It's access to a financial institution. Some people have never had a relationship with a financial institution or been comfortable depositing money or tracking their money."
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