Iowa state flag. (Source: Shutterstock)
The North Liberty, Iowa-based GreenState Credit Union's board of directors voted to approve a $1 billion investment goal over the next decade to help close the state's racial homeownership gap.
In 2021, GreenState announced it would invest $500 million toward these efforts. According to Thursday's announcement, the credit union had already witnessed success with the program in its first year that officials decided to raise the bar by doubling the investment goal.
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GreenState CEO Jeff Disterhoft said, "Since the launch of our Community Investment work last year, we have already seen incredible progress, with home loans to Black GreenState members growing to $68 million in 2021, up 60% from $42 million in 2020. As GreenState continues to grow and expand across the Midwest, we are raising the bar for ourselves and setting a new goal of $1 billion in home loans to people of color across all the communities we serve."
The $1 billion investment will focus across GreenState's entire field of membership, with a goal of investing the entire amount by 2030 "to expand access to homeownership for people of color" throughout the Midwest.
In a statement, GreenState Board of Directors Chair Fred Mims said, "I'm incredibly proud of our organization for our strong success in the first year of our Community Investment initiative. Homeownership is a key piece of the American Dream for so many families, and GreenState Credit Union wants to ensure that dream is accessible to all members of the communities we serve. To be sure, we will continue to lend to members of all races and financial backgrounds. While we continue our focus on creating value for all GreenState members, we recognize that as Iowa's largest credit union, we have a special responsibility to address racial inequities head on."
According to the report "Race in the Heartland" conducted in 2019 by the University of Iowa and Iowa Policy Project, white Iowans own homes at nearly three times the rate of Black Iowans. This disparity is considered one of the biggest racial homeownership gaps in the country, as Iowa ranks 45th with homeownership rates of 58% white and 20% Black, according to the report.
GreenState ($9 billion in assets, 338,048 members) officials said the new $1 billion goal will include its field of membership, which includes Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota, Wisconsin and Illinois.
"This investment will continue to feature targeted mortgage lending with opportunities for members to receive assistance with closing costs, down payments and other support for qualifying members in communities with a history of underinvestment," the statement read.
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Michael Ogden
Editor-in-Chief at CU Times. To connect, email at [email protected]. As Editor-in-Chief of CU Times since 2016, Michael Ogden has led the editorial team in all aspects of content strategy and execution, including the creation of the publication’s exclusive and proprietary research database of the credit union industry’s economic landscape. Under Michael’s leadership, CU Times has successfully shifted to an all-digital editorial product with new focuses on the payments, fraud, lending and regulatory beats. Most recently, he introduced a data-focused editorial product for subscribers that breaks down credit union issues into hard data, allowing for a deeper and more factual narrative for readers. In 2024, he launched the "Shared Accounts With CU Times" podcast, which offers a fresh, inside-the-newsroom perspective through interviews with leaders from the credit union industry and the regulatory world. He dives into pressing credit union issues, while revealing the personalities working behind-the-scenes to push the credit union world forward. His background includes years as a radio and TV anchor/reporter and a public relations and digital/social media manager, where he covered the food and music industries, as well as cooperatives and credit unions. Over the years, he has launched numerous exclusive video and podcast series, including a successful series of interactive backstage interviews with musicians at music festivals, showcasing his social media and live streaming production skills.
