Point West was trying to manage a multitude of missions as the Northwest housing market boomed. In addition to conventional credit union lending, it offered loans for non-citizens using an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number instead of a Social Security number to verify identity, and Individual Development Accounts to enable low-income families to reach savings targets.

"But 2005 really wasn't enough of a runway to get all the things going that the leadership team at the time had intended," Nelson said. "To get those churning, they had next steps in mind that ended up getting cut short by the recession in 2008."

"As a $100 million organization even back then, they were trying to operate as an organization much larger than that," Stephen Pagenstecher, Point West's vice president of member experience, said. "It created a perfect storm with everything coming together right in time with the Great Recession."

Meanwhile, the real estate market was booming, and PWCU held a substantial amount of real estate loans.

As the housing bubble approached the popping point in early 2007, Amy Nelson was mulling a career change from a larger credit union to a smaller one.

She was working just south of Portland in human relations at Advantis Credit Union, which then had $463 million in assets and 35,249 members (as of Dec. 30, it had $1.3 billion in assets and 67,615 members).

In March 2007, Nelson started working as the training and education manager at PWCU, which then had $104 million in assets and 12,826 members. Its delinquency rate was 0.41%. She was appointed vice president of human resources in January 2008, when the delinquency rate had risen to 0.62%.

By the end of 2008, the small credit union had a $2.3 million loan loss provision, and a net loss almost as big.

She was promoted to vice president of human resources in January 2008 and rose quickly as chaos ensued.

She was COO in 2009 as Point West closed a branch and cut business lending, first mortgages, ITIN lending and its call center. It pared its 57-employee workforce down to 29 employees.

"That included going from a 10-person management team to down to four," she said. "We cut, cut, cut and really weathered out that storm."

Nelson became co-CEO with Nick Hodson in September 2010 as the credit union finalized a net worth restoration plan with the NCUA. The NCUA released Point West from the plan in 2013 — two years early.

"You tackle the hard problems as quickly as you can because we knew our credit union was one of the only in town that was serving unbanked members — offering ITIN loans, offering loans to the lower 80% essentially."

Hodson moved to another credit union and Nelson became sole CEO in May 2014.

Because it had an ITIN program before the recession, Point West had many bilingual staff and experience producing bilingual print materials. As it worked through its losses, it realized that its lower-income borrowers had turned out to be more resilient than wealthier borrowers who had depended on inflated home values.

Not only did Point West's dedication to serving the disadvantaged align with its principles, it was also financially sustainable.

"We had a multicultural past that built trust," Nelson said. "Your underserved, your unbanked, your non-citizen members, they budget and live day to day. They know how to do this. They have a loyalty with Point West because they can't get these products or services elsewhere in their community."

The NCUA awarded Point West its Low Income Designation in 2013, and the U.S. Treasury granted Point West its Community Development Financial Institution certification in 2014.

Last year, the National Federation of Community Development Credit Unions awarded Point West its Juntos Avanzamos designation for its service to and support of the Hispanic community. It was the first credit union in Oregon to win the designation. "We have relied heavily on Juntos Avanzamos credit unions that have come before us to learn best practices. What works, what doesn't work," Nelson said.

Point West's assets fell from $104.6 million at the end of 2008 to $92.8 million at the end of 2015. Assets grew 7% last year, largely on the strength of auto loans, which grew 60% to $52.8 million by Dec. 31. Nelson said Point West was building its infrastructure for an expanded low-income lending program, and planned to start growing in 2016, but the strength of the growth came as a surprise.

"On some goals, we blew them out of the water ten-fold," she said.

Point West's average auto loan for low-income borrowers is about $8,000 to $9,000. Pagenstecher said the $18 million portfolio of car loans has a low charge-off ratio of 0.34%.

In one case, Pagenstecher recalled a family refinancing a 30% car loan from another lender into a 9% loan at Point West.

"We're very proud of what we're doing here," he said. "We think what we're doing is unique in our area. But we're just the tip of the iceberg. We're part of a community of non-profits and credit unions across the United States doing amazing things."

Point West has continued to build strong ties with others in the Portland area dedicated to serving the disadvantaged.

Sometimes Point West refers people who need financial counseling and credit repair before they can handle a loan to Innovative Changes, a nonprofit Community Development Financial Institution in Portland founded in 2009.

Innovative Changes offers a $150 to $600 "credit-builder loan" designed to build up a borrower's credit score. To participate, the borrower must complete a financial counseling orientation.

"It was a natural fit," Rachel Stein, Innovative Changes' loan program coordinator, said.

"The nice thing about Point West is that they really work individually with people," Stein said. "If somebody comes to them for a loan, and they aren't quite ready for their underwriting standards, they can refer them to us for Credit Builder, instead of just sending them away."

Innovative Changes also sends people to Point West who need a bank account, small loan or low-cost credit cards. "We're always looking for banking partners and credit union partners that we can send people to who are unbanked," she said.

Point West's partners bring new members, but they also allow the credit union to connect members to a greater range of services. Or, as Pagenstecher said, it allows conversations with members to end not with another "no," but a "not now."

"We all need a second chance," he said. "Just because someone has a blighted credit history for all kinds of reasons — a lot of times it's medical or a family emergency — it shouldn't lock you out for the rest of your adult life from traditional, mainstream financial services that we all need to rebuild."

Nelson and Pagenstecher said Point West is sticking to its mission of serving its low-income community, whether they are citizens or non-citizens, regardless of President Trump's vows to deport illegal aliens.

"We're fortunate in Portland and in Oregon to have a whole community from local legislators to local government to schools and financial institutions and local businesses rallying behind our citizens regardless of their actual status," Nelson said. "We are moving confidently forward for our community members that live within the geographic area for Point West. We'll be here for them."

But not in the same building it's occupied for the last 20 years.

Point West plans to move twice this year. It now has 31 employees in a three-story, 14,000-square-foot building on about an acre of land.

The credit union decided it was not a good investment for its members, and sold the property in early 2016. In April it will move branch staff about half a mile to a multi-use center. This summer it will move the administrative staff and remote branch staff to a location about two miles away.

The move will allow the credit union to save on overhead by using lower-cost space for administrative functions than the current building.

"We get to say goodbye to this building in the way we get to say goodbye to a lot of the baggage of the last few years," Pagenstecher said, "and really focus on who we are going forward: a community credit union that not only serves the underserved, but anybody in our community who believes in inclusivity."