Self-Help Shares

The brand new Apopka branch is wonderful, but for staff and members it's more than a new building or its amenities. It’s a visible investment in the future of the community.

One of the best parts of working at Self-Help is getting to celebrate the successes of our borrowers, members and tenants. We Self-Helpers got a treat earlier this month when one of our tenants, Russell's Pharmacy and Shoppe, celebrated its grand opening in East Durham, NC.

Meet Dr. Darius Russell and Terencia Russell (shown above), the husband-and-wife team who are the proprietors of Russell's, in these short videos.

In this season of hearts and flowers, we’re sending lots of love to our members at Self-Help Credit Union and Self-Help Federal Credit Union. Together, we’re nearly 150,000 strong in seven states around the nation. Here are love notes to just a tiny sample of the members who inspire us and help make our mission possible through the work they do every day.

Black History Spotlight: The plight of nine young black boys who came to be known as the Scottsboro Boys, illustrates how elusive justice can be as well as a difficult journey that can take multiple decades. One of the accused nine Black youths spent 19 years in Alabama prisons for crimes he and the other eight defendants never committed. Ultimately, this great injustice changed justice in America for the better.

We had lots of news this week – here’s a quick rundown of top items:

New CRL Research on For-Profit Colleges

New research from our affiliate, the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL), shows how for-profit colleges have a disproportionate impact on low-income students, African Americans and women. CRL’s new report includes an interactive map ...

Because of the current U.S. government shutdown, many federal government employees and their families are hurting. In response, Self-Help Credit Union is offering a hardship loan at reduced interest rates of 0% to 3.5% APR (annual percentage rate) for furloughed federal workers.

Toward the end of his remarkable life, Dr. King became increasingly more vocal in addressing economic injustice in America. Unfortunately, more than 50 years after the pivotal 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, our nation continues to grapple with many of the same concerns, including homelessness and hunger; mass incarceration; wealth disparities; and poverty and low wages. 

Dear Members and Friends:

The word “awesome” gets over-used, but we at Self-Help Credit Union are truly in awe of our members and partners. Not only do you make our work possible, you teach us and inspire us. Working side-by-side with you in 2018, we expanded our services and moved forward in creating more economic opportunity in more locations.

This past year we learned a lot about the compassion and resilience of our members ...

Self-Help’s most popular blog posts in 2018 reflect both the hardships and victories our communities experienced this year. 

I first met our editor and videographer, Joseph Hernandez, at the Keene Café in Keene, California. It was a convenient meeting spot on the way to the Cesar Chavez Monument and Villa La Paz, both nearby. There we laid the foundation for what was to become “Kern Central Credit Union: A Legacy of Serving Workers in the Fields.” In creating this video we knew we wanted to cover not only the history of Kern Central Credit Union, but also the Farm Workers Credit Union that merged with Kern in 1995.