Self-Help Shares

It’s that time of year for dreaming and setting goals. As a Senior Financial Coach for Self-Help Credit Union, I know that many people are struggling now. Managing your financial life takes time and careful planning—but it is so worth doing. If you are fortunate enough to be employed, now is the time to reduce financial stress and move toward financial freedom. Here are seven of my favorite financial wellness tips, plus bonus tips for finding ways to save.

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Each year we eagerly look forward to seeing which of our blog posts struck the biggest chords with our readers. This year, not surprisingly, several of the top posts relate to COVID relief and resources. You were interested in protecting your finances and learning tips for buying a home during this uncertain time. Many popular posts also focused on hope for a better future.

Self-Help celebrates its 40th anniversary with a new timeline of milestones, including the New Bern, NC  bakery that raised $77 for Self-Help in 1981. At our recent annual meeting we heard from owners of another small bakery in Columbia, South Carolina, who kept their business going with a Paycheck Protection Program relief loan. 

In this year's annual meeting, we recognized the hardships that our members and communities are facing as the COVID pandemic continues. We celebrated the COVID financial relief that Self-Help was able to provide to small businesses and nonprofits. We lifted up the possibilities for collaboration even during a time of deep division. And we celebrated 40 years of service with partners and friends.

With Thanksgiving only three weeks away, we are entering a season of gratitude and service. Many of us are stepping up our efforts to volunteer, donate and help make this a better holiday season for the many people—far too many—who find themselves in need. Shepherd's Hope in a southside neighborhood of Chicago known as Englewood, is doing just that. 

In Wilson and Charlotte, NC, Self-Help is now staffed with a full-time Financial Coach. These coaches are dedicated to working one-on-one with members to help empower them with the tools they need to manage their finances and take meaningful steps towards their financial goals. In this post we hear from staff in Wilson and Charlotte who all share a passion for helping people realize their dreams.

Self-Help's Director of Sustainability, Melissa Malkin-Weber, reports on the Just Energy Summit, held last week. The conference focused on how racial inequities play out in the energy sector, imposing disproportionate costs and greater health risks on Black communities and other communities of color. Organized by Partnership for Southern Equity, the Just Energy Summit brought together activists, scientific, and policy experts to educate and share ideas for change. The event shone a light on how the threads of pollution, poverty and racism are inextricably intertwined.

Self-Help has a long history of mission-focused loans and products that help empower women financially. When the COVID pandemic struck, we hit the ground running with relief loans through the Paycheck Protection Program--and we knew that we wanted a strong focus on women-led companies and nonprofits. When the last round of PPP lending wrapped up in August, we had achieved that goal. Nearly half of our PPP loans (47%) went to nonprofits or companies headed by women. In this post, we highlight a few examples.

Recently Self-Help has partnered with other Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) to find ways to make racial equity an integral part of our charter school lending process. In this post, Self-Help's Charter School Sector Leader, Brittany Bennett, describes how this effort has resulted in the development of an equity assessment tool that is already helping CDFIs incorporate equity into their loan decisions. 

Congratulations to 27 students who were named as Self-Help Scholars this year! Please take a moment to check out some of our leaders of the future.