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July 25, 2000
Ithaca Credit Union Reaches Youth Community
Alternatives Federal Credit Union embraces community development through a variety of innovative
programs for underserved communities, including teenagers.
SocialFunds.com --
Many of the programs initiated by community development financial institutions (CDFIs) include
training in money management, such as counseling on small business loans and responsible saving
habits. Dollars for Dreams, a youth branch of the Ithaca, NY-based Alternatives Federal Credit
Union teaches teenagers how to be responsible with money at the same time as giving them an early
glimpse of community-based transaction services.
 "The mere fact that this Credit Union
allows young people in the community to apply for loans of up to $500 is an extension of the faith
they have shown us," said Abigail MacBain, a high school senior in Ithaca. "Alternatives is giving
young people like me the chances others are denying us."
Alternatives Federal Credit Union
is a community development credit union, with more than $30 million in assets and more than 8000
members in the progressive, central New York city of Ithaca. Dollars for Dreams is one of several
innovative community development programs offered by the allied Alternatives Venture Fund, and one
that stands as a model of youth services.
Dollars for Dreams is run by and for youth under
age 19, offering hands-on experience for volunteers from running a bake sale to approving a loan,
and providing opportunities for depositors to acquire responsible money management habits. Since
its inception in 1997, the program has acquired almost $300,000 in deposits and approved seven
loans totaling $2,825. Last year Dollars for Dreams opened its second in-school branch, in the
Alternative Community School.
"If you start saving at an earlier age, you're more likely
to be more responsible about money, and less likely to waste it," said Dollars for Dreams volunteer
of the year, Lisa Smith, 16. Alternatives President, Jim Fravil asserts, "Our youth members have
shown us that our community is blessed with many fine young people. Our future is guaranteed."
Alternatives offers several other innovative community programs beyond the usual member-based
deposits and loans expected of credit unions. Community Enterprise Opportunities, or CEO, is a
small business development program including an 11 week course for micro-entrepreneurs. IDA, or
Individual Development Accounts, provide targeted, matched savings accounts for low-income
depositors to build assets and move out of poverty.
Alternatives has always associated
itself with socially responsible investing, even hosting one of the first conferences on "ethical
investing" in 1982 when it was still relatively unknown. A new program at Alternatives now offers
the services of Brian Laverty, a financial advisor with First Affirmative Financial Network (FAFN),
the largest national association of investment professionals specializing in social investing, to
further serve their members.
But perhaps the most unique aspect of community investment at
Alternatives is in Dollars for Dreams. Abigail MacBain said, "In a world where it is assumed that
young people would rather rob a bank than work at one, this Credit Union is 'alternative' in
everything, especially in how they're willing to think toward teens."
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SRI World Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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