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March 08, 2001
Self-Help Credit Union Reaches Milestone in Community Investing
From humble beginnings in the back of a Volkswagon Beetle, non-profit lender generates $1 billion
in financing.
SocialFunds.com --
Self-Help Credit Union, a non-profit community development financial institution, announced
yesterday it had reached $1 billion in financing for both individuals and organizations. Families,
non-profits and small businesses in 43 states have been assisted by Self-Help's loan programs.
"Self-Help's mission is to create economic
opportunity through ownership," said Self-Help co-founder and CEO Martin Eakes. "Ownership is the
best way for families to build wealth and financial security, and for our society to create strong,
vibrant communities," he added.
Self-Help was a mobile operation when it began in 1980,
with its first office being located in the back of a Volkswagon Beetle. It has grown to six
offices across North Carolina, with a reach that extends well beyond the state border. Self-Help's
lending operations began in 1984 when a group of bakery workers raffled off a cake and donated the
$77 proceeds to capitalize Self-Help Credit Union.
Similar to other community
development credit unions, Self-Help focuses on lending to minorities, women, rural residents, and
low-wealth families that are not served adequately by other financial institutions. Typical
recipients of Self-Help loans are first-time homeowners, entrepreneurs looking to start or expand
small businesses, and non-profits that provide needed services such as child care. Self-Help
estimates that it has helped to create 13,600 jobs, 14,000 childcare spaces, 3,710 educational
spaces, and 425 supportive housing spaces.
Self-Help also engages in various real estate
activities, including direct commercial and residential real estate development. It owns over
225,000 square feet of commercial property in five North Carolina cities, and has fully renovated
35 homes for sale to low-wealth individuals in Durham, North Carolina.
Self-Help's reach
to other states is mainly through its Community Advantage secondary market program, which began two
years ago. Through the program, Self-Help provides credit enhancement to conventional lenders,
enabling them to make flexible home loans to low-wealth families. Community Advantage partners
include Fannie Mae, the Ford Foundation and the Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta. Since its
inception, the program has provided financing for over $850 million in loans, empowering 12,000
families to purchase a home.
Reaching the $1 billion plateau is a powerful statement that
community investing can work extremely well. "Self-Help demonstrates that it is possible to make
loans to low-wealth individuals, while having very low loss rates, lower or similar to those of
other traditional bank lenders," said Eakes.
Over the next five years, Eakes believes
Self-Help loans will assist an additional 20,000 families realize their dreams. When he and his
co-founders were working out of that Volkswagon Beetle twenty years ago, they had more foresight
than they probably imagined when they chose the name for their new venture.
http://www.selfhelp.org
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